The Tree of Knowledge - The Bright and the Dark Sides of Science

Whether considered a divine gift or a Promethean conquest, science has indisputably and indelibly marked the course of human history. A product of the intellectual elite, but always nourished by the many fruits of its applications, science appears today to be a perfect system, whose laws and discoveries guide all human activities. Yet the foundations of its authority remain an open question, entailing disquieting aspects that are also to be identified in modern science. Furthermore it is seen to be exerting an increasing power over mankind. Readers are invited to follow an itinerary through the history of science, a voyage which, in the end, enables them to catch a glimpse of two divergent futures: One in which science accelerates the downfall of Homo sapiens, and another in which it helps our species to engage in a new and positive adventure, whose outcome nobody can know.

List of contents

Introduction.- Time of Growth.- Birth an Floruit of Science in the Occident.- Scientific Research as a Global Enterprise.- The Crisis of Growth.- Orthodoxy vs. Heresy.- The Dissemination of Knowledge.- Beyond Mankind.- Artificial Intelligence and Post-Humanity.- Beginning and End.- Epilogue.

Additional text

From the reviews:
“This is a fascinating, extensive, and insightful journey through the history of science. … as a work of sound scholarship, it belongs in all college libraries. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty.” (V. V. Raman, Choice, Vol. 51 (10), June, 2014)

Report

From the reviews:
"This is a fascinating, extensive, and insightful journey through the history of science. ... as a work of sound scholarship, it belongs in all college libraries. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty." (V. V. Raman, Choice, Vol. 51 (10), June, 2014)

Product details

• Authors: Claudio Ronchi
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 23.08.2016
• EAN: 9783319346526
• ISBN: 978-3-31-934652-6
• No. of pages: 286
• Dimensions: 155 mm x 235 mm x 16 mm
• Weight: 468 g
• Illustrations: XX, 286 p. 48 illus.
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Physics, astronomy > General, dictionaries; B, History, popular science, Life Sciences, Mathematics, History of Science, Physics, Humanities and Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary studies, Life sciences: general issues, Physics and Astronomy, Philosophical Foundations of Physics and Astronomy, History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics, Engineering: general, Technology and Engineering, Popular works, Mathematics and Computing, Physical Sciences, Popular Science, general, Mathematics and science