The Workshop and the World: What Ten Thinkers Can Teach Us About Science and Authority

　　我們從什麼時候開始理所當然地接受科學發現，就代表著真實？又為什麼科學事實，在今天顯得這麼脆弱而容易被推翻？而面對這些狀況，我們又能做什麼？這一切都要從科學基礎的起源及世界最偉大的十位思想家談起。
 
　　在天主教會握有絕對權力的時代，培根、伽利略及笛卡兒即闡明科學的重要性並不亞於神學，而雪萊及孔德則藉由小說告訴大家，為追求科學而罔顧人性時，可能自嚐惡果。深具爭議的土耳其之父凱末爾，與思想女傑漢納.鄂蘭則闡述了在科學界與公眾間毫無互信的時代，兩者的關係是怎麼樣的。而今，政治人物及政府官員常質疑科學家毫無誠信、滿腹陰謀，甚至根本就是騙子，平凡的你我除了困惑為何事已至此、該如何從中脫身以外，幾乎無能為力。
 
　　紐約州立大學石溪分校的權威教授Robert P. Creas以生動的故事帶我們回到過往，呈現曾有的那個時代──僅僅是想告訴大眾一項科學事實，會承受多大的風險，甚至會小命不保──並從中讓我們理解，忽略或者濫用科學，都有可能危及個人生命，甚至人類文化。本書回望過去歷史的重要人物及轉折，更切時地回應當下信仰科學與反科學的並存的社會氛圍，思索「科學」與「權威」之間應是什麼關係──接受、懷疑、合理的運用──是當代的你我都必須思索的重要題目。（文/博客來編譯）
 
A fascinating look at key thinkers throughout history who have shaped public perception of science and the role of authority.
 
　　When does a scientific discovery become accepted fact? Why have scientific facts become easy to deny? And what can we do about it? In The Workshop and the World, philosopher and science historian Robert P. Crease answers these questions by describing the origins of our scientific infrastructure―the “workshop”―and the role of ten of the world’s greatest thinkers in shaping it. At a time when the Catholic Church assumed total authority, Francis Bacon, Galileo Galilei, and René Descartes were the first to articulate the worldly authority of science, while writers such as Mary Shelley and Auguste Comte told cautionary tales of divorcing science from the humanities. The provocative leaders and thinkers Kemal Atatürk and Hannah Arendt addressed the relationship between the scientific community and the public in in times of deep distrust.
 
　　As today’s politicians and government officials increasingly accuse scientists of dishonesty, conspiracy, and even hoaxes, engaged citizens can’t help but wonder how we got to this level of distrust and how we can emerge from it. This book tells dramatic stories of individuals who confronted fierce opposition―and sometimes risked their lives―in describing the proper authority of science, and it examines how ignorance and misuse of science constitute the preeminent threat to human life and culture. An essential, timely exploration of what it means to practice science for the common good as well as the danger of political action divorced from science, The Workshop and the World helps us understand both the origins of our current moment of great anti-science rhetoric and what we can do to help keep the modern world from falling apart.
 
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Review
　 
　　“A timely, sophisticated analysis of the plague of science denial, and possible correctives, via an examination of the ideas of ten profound thinkers.”- Kirkus, starred review
 
　　“Science is under assault. Crease’s vital new book explains how science acquired its authority, how that authority has benefited us all―and how the seeds of attack came from within science itself. Pulling off such an ambitious enterprise requires the training of a philosopher, the precision of a scientist, and the storytelling chops of a great biographer. Crease has them all.”- Charles C. Mann, author of 1491 and The Wizard and the Prophet
 
　　“A masterpiece that explains sophisticated concepts without shortchanging them, and demonstrates 'why the dwindling authority of science' threatens human life. ”- Publishers Weekly, starred review
 
　　“In this urgent book, Crease shows that there is nothing obvious or inevitable about the social reception of science. Beautifully and clearly written, it is required reading for anyone who cares about the role of science in society.”- Philip Ball, author of Serving the Reich
 
　　“Rather than hard-sell current scientific claims to those unlikely to listen, Crease enhances the cultural ‘authority of the workshop’ by showing how science becomes authoritative in the first place. His unique combination of talents and expertise is a benefit to us all.”- Robert C. Scharff, author of How History Matters to Philosophy
 
　　“How to get angry the right way―that is the question motivating Robert Crease’s magisterial account of ten of history’s smartest men and women on the verge of making the world a better place. These brilliant, ambitious, sometimes oddball and often self-destructive thinkers, encountered obstacles the likes of which we are seeing today, as techno-scientific utopias turn into dystopias, irrationality thrives, and science denial grows. Through the lives and thoughts of these indispensable apostles of truth, Crease offers readers a profound meditation about the breaking point of modern civilization.”- Jimena Canales, author of The Physicist and the Philosopher
 
　　“We live in a frightening time of assault on the notion of ‘truth’ and authority. Crease’s historical account of the relationship between the public and the expert sheds important light on our current plight.”- Peter Woit, author of Not Even Wrong
 
　　“An eloquent, timely account of what went right and what wrong in modernity when it comes to the ways in which scientific discoveries and theories were received by contemporaries. In lively recountings of telling episodes, Crease discusses a rich array of figures ranging from Francis Bacon and Galileo to Edmund Husserl and Hannah Arendt. He demonstrates how earlier forms of casting doubt on the authority of scientific findings offer clues to contemporary ways by which this authority is put in question. Speaking forcefully to the present moment, Crease spells out a series of concrete and efficacious steps by which science denial can be addressed and combated in our own time.”- Edward S. Casey, author of The World on Edge

Author
 
　　Robert P. Crease is the chairman of the philosophy department at Stony Brook University and the author of several books on science, including The Quantum Moment and The Great Equations. He lives in New York City.