TY  - BOOK
AU  - Byers,William
TI  - The Blind Spot: Science and the Crisis of Uncertainty 
SN  - 9780691146843
AV  - Q175.5 .B94 2011
U1  - 500 
PY  - 2011///]
CY  - Princeton, NJ : 
PB  - Princeton University Press, 
KW  - Science
KW  - Social aspects
KW  - Sciences
KW  - Aspect social
KW  - Uncertainty (Information theory)
KW  - SCIENCE / Philosophy & Social Aspects
KW  - bisacsh
KW  - Acknowledgment (creative arts and sciences)
KW  - Algorithm
KW  - Ambiguity
KW  - Analogy
KW  - Approximation
KW  - Axiom
KW  - Axiomatic system
KW  - Basic research
KW  - Big O notation
KW  - Calculation
KW  - Certainty
KW  - Chaos theory
KW  - Circumference
KW  - Computation
KW  - Concept
KW  - Conjecture
KW  - Consciousness
KW  - Consistency
KW  - Contingency (philosophy)
KW  - Continuous function
KW  - Continuum hypothesis
KW  - Contradiction
KW  - Counting
KW  - David Bohm
KW  - Dynamism (metaphysics)
KW  - Emergence
KW  - Euclidean geometry
KW  - Explanation
KW  - Feeling
KW  - Fermat's Last Theorem
KW  - Geometry
KW  - Gestalt psychology
KW  - Gregory Chaitin
KW  - Gödel's incompleteness theorems
KW  - Human behavior
KW  - Human intelligence
KW  - Hypothesis
KW  - Ideology
KW  - Inference
KW  - Integer
KW  - Irrational number
KW  - Learning
KW  - Logic
KW  - Logical reasoning
KW  - Mathematician
KW  - Mathematics
KW  - Measurement
KW  - Methodology
KW  - Modernity
KW  - Molecule
KW  - Natural number
KW  - Nature
KW  - Paradigm shift
KW  - Paradox
KW  - Participant
KW  - Phenomenon
KW  - Philosopher
KW  - Philosophy of mathematics
KW  - Philosophy of science
KW  - Philosophy
KW  - Platonism
KW  - Prediction
KW  - Principle
KW  - Probability
KW  - Pythagoreanism
KW  - Qualitative property
KW  - Quantification (science)
KW  - Quantity
KW  - Quantum mechanics
KW  - Randomness
KW  - Rational number
KW  - Rationality
KW  - Real number
KW  - Reality
KW  - Reason
KW  - Reductionism
KW  - Relationship between religion and science
KW  - Result
KW  - Scientific method
KW  - Scientific progress
KW  - Scientific theory
KW  - Scientist
KW  - Self-reference
KW  - Set theory
KW  - Special case
KW  - Subatomic particle
KW  - Subjectivity
KW  - Suggestion
KW  - Technology
KW  - The Philosopher
KW  - Theorem
KW  - Theoretical physics
KW  - Theory of everything
KW  - Theory
KW  - Thomas Kuhn
KW  - Thought
KW  - Uncertainty
KW  - Universality (philosophy)
KW  - Writing
N1  - Frontmatter --; Contents --; Preface: The Revelation of Uncertainty --; 1. The Blind Spot --; 2. The Blind Spot Revealed --; 3. Certainty or Wonder? --; 4. A World in Crisis! --; 5. Ambiguity --; 6. Self-Reference: The Human Element in Science --; 7. The Mystery of Number --; 8. Science as the Ambiguous Search for Unity --; 9. The Still Point --; 10. Conclusion: Living in a World of Uncertainty --; Acknowledgments --; Notes --; References --; Index; restricted access
N2  - In today's unpredictable and chaotic world, we look to science to provide certainty and answers--and often blame it when things go wrong. The Blind Spot reveals why our faith in scientific certainty is a dangerous illusion, and how only by embracing science's inherent ambiguities and paradoxes can we truly appreciate its beauty and harness its potential. Crackling with insights into our most perplexing contemporary dilemmas, from climate change to the global financial meltdown, this book challenges our most sacredly held beliefs about science, technology, and progress. At the same time, it shows how the secret to better science can be found where we least expect it--in the uncertain, the ambiguous, and the inevitably unpredictable. William Byers explains why the subjective element in scientific inquiry is in fact what makes it so dynamic, and deftly balances the need for certainty and rigor in science with the equally important need for creativity, freedom, and downright wonder. Drawing on an array of fascinating examples--from Wall Street's overreliance on algorithms to provide certainty in uncertain markets, to undecidable problems in mathematics and computer science, to Georg Cantor's paradoxical but true assertion about infinity--Byers demonstrates how we can and must learn from the existence of blind spots in our scientific and mathematical understanding. The Blind Spot offers an entirely new way of thinking about science, one that highlights its strengths and limitations, its unrealized promise, and, above all, its unavoidable ambiguity. It also points to a more sophisticated approach to the most intractable problems of our time
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400838158
UR  - https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9781400838158
UR  - https://www.degruyter.com/document/cover/isbn/9781400838158/original
ER  -