Is Science Necessary?: Essays on Science and Scientists

by Max F. Perutz

The double-edged sword modern science wields has excited controversy for years, and there is no end to the debate in sight. The genetic engineering that may one day cure cancer could also deprive the human race of its very individuality. Chemicals like DDT, which have increased food production
the world over--saving millions from starvation--have also seriously polluted our environment. And most notoriously, the nuclear technology that provides us with cheap and efficient energy also fuels the horrifying weaponry of Armageddon. Such contradictions have prompted Nobel Prize-winning
scientist Max F. Perutz to ask quite simply "Is science necessary?"
Throughout this provocative collection of essays--a unique blend of history, criticism, philosophy, and memoir--Perutz answers his question with a resounding "yes." Ranging from the title piece, where he examines the crucial role science has played in every aspect of modern life, to striking
portraits of such great scientists as Alexander Fleming, Ernest Rutherford, Max Planck, and Chaim Weizmann, Perutz's essays demonstrate how "the survival of nature and of civilization" depends upon an intelligent and scrupulous application of science, and an understanding--by all of us--of its basic
ways and means.
Some of the most compelling essays are of a personal nature. "Enemy Alien" tells the troubling story of Perutz's deportation from England as a German national during the Second World War. He provides fascinating insights into the secret military projects he worked on after the war, the most
interesting of which a futuristic attempt to convert icebergs into aircraft carriers. And throughout Perutz writes of the excitement of discovery--whether of a revolutionary new medicine like penicillin or of theories such as quantum physics that forever changed the way we look at the world.
Far from being "a soulless hermit toiling away at abstruse problems that he cannot explain except in incomprehensible gibberish," the scientist, as Perutz presents him, is as impassioned as the artist, and it is from his creative energies that the most important advances in science emerge.
Moving, humorous, clearly written, and, above all, enlightening, these essays help readers become aware not only of the indispensable function of science in today's world, but of the very nature of scientific inquiry itself.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Philosophy

302 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1989

Reviews

[Moh Mhf · Rating 5 out of 5]

هذا الكتاب غير حياتي في بداياتها العملية حين كنت أدرس في الثانوية العامة
غير من نظرتي للعلم و العمل

كتاب للتاريخ و المستقبل و انتاج العلم و العلماء

[معتز عناني · Rating 2 out of 5]

خيبة أمل ،، معلومات قيمة ،، وكتاب ممل
لأسباب


التناول
الكاتب عالم ذو خلفية بيولوجية ، فلم يهتم الا باستخدام الا أمثلة ذات موضوع بيولوجي
ومعظمها معقد بتخصصها ، وبأمثلته ، وعدم معرفة القارئ (شخصي) لمعظم هؤلاء العلماء

الكتاب ما هو محاضرات للكاتب ، استخلصها من مجموعة من الكتب التي قرأها لعلماء في مجال البيولوجيا ، الا في حالتين او ثلاثة على الأكثر في الكتاب كله

*الكاتب غير محترف في أسلوبه ومزعج جداً بتنقله من موضوع الى اخر سريعاً
ومع ذلك أهمية الكتاب هي ما دفعتني لأنهيه

فالكتاب يحاول مناقشة أهمية العلم ، وتحفيز على العلم بسرد قصص علماء ، ثم بعض الاضافات

فخلاصة
لا انصح احد بقراءة هذا الكتاب
ولكن لو استقبلت من أمرى ما استدبرت
ما منعت نفسي من قراءته

اللغة
بالـتأكيد الترجمة لها دور في نفوري من هذا الكتاب ، ولكن ربما تكمن الاشكالية ليست في ترجمة الكاتب وحدها ولكن في غياب مصطلحات عربية واضحة مترجمة

الاسم
ضرورة العلم : دراسات في العلم والعلماء
اسم خادع بشكل ما ، فاسمه في رأيي
ملخصات في كتب العلم والعلماء البيولوجيين

الغلاف
سطحي وسخيف ولكن لأنه يصدر عن سلسلة اتخذت الموضوع مجال اهتمامها بعيداً عن الفنيات ،، ولذلك الغلاف مقبول


اضافة
الكتابة في العلوم هو من أقصر الطرق في زمننا للشهرة على ما يبدو

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first section is interesting but outdated, speaking about increasing crop yields and changes in medical science. The second part of the book was very interesting new, to me, material . Perutz, who won a Nobel Prize for his research on the structure of hemoglobin, had just finished his PhD at Cambridge, when he and other German, Austrian, and Italian immigrants in England at the start of WWII were put on ships and transported to camps in Canada. Some of the Germans were Jewish, but in the short-sighted paranoia of the war were considered to be potential saboteurs and Nazis. Fortunately ,the incarceration lasted only a few months before wiser heads prevailed and they were returned to England, many of them to continue with their work and studies.
Other sections of the book deal with Klaus Fuchs, the physicist who did spy for the Soviets. Some book reviews are included. On the whole it was interesting and worth a read.

[Salah The reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب جميل و حسنة أخرى من حسنات المجلس الوطني للثقافة و الفنون و الآداب في الكويت.
رغم أن كثيرا من المعلومات في الكتاب تجاوزها العلم الحديث و أضحت ضمن تاريخ العلوم.

[Gabriel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I was expecting this book to go some way towards answering the question it sets out, but it just doesn’t really. It’s comprised of a first section with chapters on how science has improved various aspects of life. I skipped most of this as it was talking a lot about past and future statistics, though written in the 80s this was quite outdated. And given I didn’t know much about the areas it wasn’t even interesting from a “what they thought back then” point of view.

The rest of the book involves chapters of his life, book reviews, and chapters about other scientists. These turned out to be quite interesting for the most part and pretty easy to read. Again this is biased by my preconceptions but I was expecting more of an overall point, beyond painting a general picture of science and scientists. I did kind of grow to like that I just wandered my way through the book, without it constantly bringing me back to a point or argument.

However it is very clearly written by a Cambridge professor in the 80s, with all the associated ideas about how science works and who scientists are. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but it just doesn’t really feel applicable to how science is done today.

[Fernando del Alamo · Rating 4 out of 5]

El autor fue un químico, Premio Nobel de Química en 1962. En este libro, el autor nos habla de diferentes puntos de vista entre la ciencia y la sociedad. Por un lado, nos habla de cómo hemos mejorado la obtención de alimentos por metro cuadrado de suelo gracias a los avances tecnológicos. Por otro lado, ns habla de cómo ha influido en la guerra y, finalmente, hace reseñas de diferentes libros que leyó en su momento.
Queda claro que algunas de las cosas están desactualizadas con el paso de los años, pero algunas cosas de las que dice son igual de válidas. Por otro lado, es un documento de interés histórico que cualquier aficionado a la historia de la ciencia debería leer. No es un libro que se haga ameno, pero es interesante conocer la visión del momento que tenía un científco destacado.
Recomendado para aquellos que interese histora de la ciencia. Quizás más de historia y sociedad que no de ciencia; aunque es difícil decir de antemano si le gustará a alguien que no lo haya leído.

[Richard Kravitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember this had some interesting essays, one especially I remember about the "Atomic Spy", Klaus Fuchs!

[مريم عادل · Rating 3 out of 5]

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