Paradigms Lost: Images of Man in the Mirror of Science - Softcover

Casti, John L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0747409676 ISBN 13: 9780747409670

Publisher: Time Warner Books UK, 1991

Synopsis

Intended for both the layman and the scientist, this book presents an overview of some of today's great scientific questions, from the way in which we acquire language and the fundamental nature of our thinking processes, to the possible existence of life elsewhere in the universe. Each chapter is constructed in the form of a trial, with the conventional scientific wisdom presented by the "prosecution" and alternative views put forward by the "defence". The author, who aims to be both informative and entertaining, subsequently steps in to act as "juror", offering explanations of his verdicts.

About this title

About the Author:

John L. Casti is a member of the faculty of the Santa Fe Institute and a professor at the Technical University of Vienna. He divides his time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Vienna.

From Publishers Weekly:

Casti draws the reader into current scientific controversies as he weighs the pros and cons of puzzling questions: Did life on earth arise from a "primordial organic soup"? Can a machine ever duplicate human cognitive processes? How do children acquire the ability to speak their native language? Is there validity to sociobiologists' claims that human behavior patterns are genetically determined? Quantum physics, artificial intelligence and astronomers' search for intelligent life in the universe are among the topics explored in an engaging, elegant, personal fashion. Casti, author of Alternate Realities , spotlights the role of passion and politics in scientific debate. However, he highhandedly dismisses research into UFOs, Bigfoot (yeti) and "even more offbeat phenomena" as the work of pseudoscientific cranks, thus himself mirroring the attitudes of scientists whose blinkered viewpoints on other topics he so deftly exposes. BOMC and QPBC alternates.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Time Warner Books UK
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0747409676
• ISBN 13: 9780747409670
• Binding: Paperback