Failure: Why Science Is so Successful
Sign in to keep track of books you’ve read and want to read.
The general public has a glorified view of the pursuit of scientific research. However, the idealized perception of science as a rule-based, methodical system for accumulating facts could not be further from the truth. Modern science involves the idiosyncratic, often bumbling search for understanding in uncharted territories, full of wrong turns, false findings, and the occasional remarkable success.
Read more
In his sequel to Ignorance (Oxford University Press, 2012), Stuart Firestein shows us that the scientific enterprise is riddled with mistakes and errors - and that this is a good thing! Failure: Why Science Is So Successful delves into the origins of scientific research as a process that relies upon trial and error, one which inevitably results in a hefty dose of failure. In fact, scientists throughout history have relied on failure to guide their research, viewing mistakes as a necessary part of the process. Citing both historical and contemporary examples, Firestein strips away the distorted view of science as infallible to provide the public with a rare, inside glimpse of the messy realities of the scientific process.
An insider's view of how science is actually carried out, this book will delight anyone with an interest in science, from aspiring scientists to curious general readers. Accessible and entertaining, Failure illuminates the greatest and most productive adventure of human history, with all the missteps along the way.
Liked Failure: Why Science Is so Successful? Here’s where I’d start.
These suit anyone who liked Failure: Why Science Is so Successful. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.
-
Strange Matters:: Undiscovered Ideas at the Frontiers of Space and Time Shares science, nonfiction -
Expected Returns: An Investor's Guide to Harvesting Market Rewards Shares nonfiction -
Paradigms Lost Shares science, nonfiction, philosophy -
There's Always Something to Do: The Peter Cundill Investment Approach Shares nonfiction
“People who read Failure: Why Science Is so Successful tend to reach for these next.”
-
Berkshire Beyond Buffett: The Enduring Value of Values
- Centuries of Change: Which Century Saw the Most Change and Why it Matters to Us
-
Hall of Mirrors: The Great Depression, the Great Recession, and the Uses - and Misuses - of History
- Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup
“If you want more of the same (science), start with these.”
“Readers describe these the same way.”
“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”
-
Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein - Colossal Mistakes by Great Scientists That Changed Our Understanding of Life and the Universe
-
The Beginner's Guide To Winning The Nobel Prize: A Life In Science
-
When Science Goes Wrong: Twelve Tales From the Dark Side of Discovery
- Are We All Scientific Experts Now?