Power and Invention: Situating Science (Volume 10)

by Isabelle Stengers

One of the most penetrating and celebrated thinkers writing about the philosophy of science today, Isabelle Stengers here provides a firsthand account of the meeting of science and history. Concerned with the force and inventiveness of those theories, Power and Invention offers a unique perspective on the power of scientific theories to modify society, and vice versa. Using the law of thermodynamics, Stengers sets out to explain the consequences of nonlinear dynamics (or chaos theory) for philosophy and science. She makes a case for the concept of complexity that transcends the conventional boundaries of scientific discourse and that clearly exposes the risks of scientific theories. Among the questions she confronts are: Is psychoanalysis a science? Is there such a thing as "women's science"? What are scientific theories?

Genres: Philosophy, Science, History Of Science

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Isabelle Stengers is the author of many books on the philosophy of science, and is Professor of Philosophy at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.

Reviews

[Maxime Giguère · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bonne comparaison entre la pensée commune et le discours scientifique qui remet en question une distinction rigide, essentielle, entre les deux. Valorisation d'une démocratisation des sciences.