Two modes of thought;: My encounters with science and education

by James Bryant Conant

The book presents Dr. Conant's discussion of the two modes of thought from which flow all progress in science and education and, indeed, our own day-to-day decisions. Drawing on his wide knowledge and experience, Dr. Conant illustrates how these two processes are interrelated, how they operate in the natural sciences, the practical arts and social science; then, in a startling conclusion, he shows how the preponderance of one or the other in the study of law has created radically different practices in education and business in Europe and America. The author also takes up the perplexing question of whether or not social science is a discipline comparable to the natural sciences. The answer has important ramifications in the reshaping of American education, for Dr. Conant classifies the activity in schools, colleges and universities as "applied social science, or a practical art on which the social sciences are now impinging."

96 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1970