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Summary:
In the last ten years, a new school of sociology has grown up that sees science as not only relativistic but as a purely human construct; that ties scientists' findings about "nature" to their standing in the cultural and political milieu of which they are a part. Steven Shapin adds to this revisionist literature with a fascinating, paradoxical book that at once questions our notions of the scientific revolution of the last century and deepens our understanding of it. Shapin examines four themes in the history of modern science: mechanism (the idea of nature as a machine); objectivism; methodology and impartiality; and altruism (the idea that science can better the lot of mankind). He does so in three deft, incisive sections: "What Was Known?"; "How Was It Known?"; and "What Was the Knowledge For?" This excellent study, written for the layman, explains how the scientists' world shaped their knowledge of the natural world.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
well done!
Customer Rating:
Perhaps the best, concise review by an established scholar. Worth it for the first chapter alone, which reviews the intellectual background and the philosophy of the revolution.
High hopes - not fulfilled
Customer Rating:
I was really looking forward to reading this book after several warm recommendations, but I was sadly disappointed. The contents was reasonable giving, but the language and the presentation... I give it.. 4 for contents, 2 for language and grammar, 2 for presentation and structure. Hmmm. 8 divided by 3 is... 2.6. No, that's more than it deserves.
Decent Introductory Text
Customer Rating:
The Scientific Revolution represented a profound change in the way that we try to understand nature. The influence of science today, and its prestite, is pervasive. So this is an interesting topic. But Shapin's book is only an introduction. You'll get some names (Boyle, Galileo, Descartes, Bacon, Newton) and some interesting quotes and summaries of their thought. The issues of experiment, measurement and mathematization are treated. But none of it is in much depth. You won't learn any of the specifics of Copernicus, Galileo or Newton. If this is your first intro to the subject, it's fine. But for someone like me who already has somewhat of a background, most of this was stuff I already knew. It's well written, easy to read and has somewhat of a critical perspective, which is nice. But it's somewhat superficial and shallow. But it serves it purpose, I suppose.
Greg Feirman (gfire77@yahoo.com)
The Scientific Revolution changed how we see the world
Customer Rating:
I am amazed by the review written by the reader from Sydney. This book does not pretend to give a chronological narrative of who did what when in the making of modern science. There are many books that do that job. Instead, Shapin is interested in what difference the Scientific Revolution made to how people at the time, and how we, think about the natural world. The major changes may have been the new idea that nature could be investigated and understood, not merely regarded with awe and fear; that careful, repeatable experiments could yield information about how nature works; and that this new approach to nature changed how human beings regarded our relation to the natural world and our place in it. If nature is something that we can explore and understand, then we have a new power; we are no longer on a par with the natural world, because we can see into it. The ways in which knowledge is acquired, or made, and why it matters that we pursue and develop this knowledge are part of Shapin's central theme. These are not small questions, and to my mind they are addressed elegantly in this short but very substantial book.
Terrible
Customer Rating:
If you are looking for an account of the complex chain of events, discoveries and philosophies leading to the emergence of the modern scientific worldview, this is the wrong book. It is heavily influenced by post-modernist views, whereas science is seen as a "discourse" no more or less valid than "alternative" modes of knowledge. Since this is plainly incorrect, the book fits the facts to the Procustean bed of "theory" to support its thesis. For instance, never is the book is the development of Calculus mentioned, clearly an essential step in the development of classical mechanics and the foundation of most modern scientific theories. The same may be said for countless other developments which are cavalierly ignored. There was a scientific revolution and its effects are all around us, including the medium on which this review is written.
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