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）

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 Ren 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 Atat rk 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.

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.