The shape of wonder : how scientists think, work, and live / Alan Lightman and Martin Rees.
| Author/creator | Lightman, Alan P., 1948- author. |
| Other author | Rees, Martin J., 1942- author. |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | First hardcover edition. |
| Publication | New York : Pantheon Books, 2025. |
| Copyright Date | ©2025 |
| Description | viii, 208 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Disciplined wonder -- Why science? -- A day in the life -- How scientists think -- Profile: Dorota Grabowska (young contemporary theoretical physicist at CERN) -- Profile: Barbara McClintock (Nobel biologist, worked in a private lab, deceased) -- What gets them started -- Profile: Marta Zlatić (Croatian neuroscientist, works at Cambridge University) -- Profile: John Mather (American physicist, Nobel Prize, team leader for space missions) -- What keeps them going? -- Profile: Werner Heisenberg (Nobel physicist, deceased) -- Profile: Magdalena Lenda (young Polish ecologist, does fieldwork) -- Patterns of scientific discovery -- Profile: Govind Swarup (Indian astronomer, deceased) -- The ethics of science and responsibilities of scientists. |
| Abstract | "In this book, acclaimed physicists Alan Lightman and Martin Rees illuminate the life and work of numerous scientists in order to demystify the scientific process and show that scientists are concerned citizens, just like the rest of us. In an age of rapid scientific discovery and technological advancement, it's understandable that many feel uneasy about the future. While we might have confidence in these new developments when we go to the hospital for a medical procedure, fly in an airplane, or take an elevator to the top floor of a building, the motivations and lives of scientists themselves feel shrouded from public view. There is a growing sense that scientists are not to be trusted--that they may be guided by political or financial interests, or beholden to governments, or state institutions. This growing mistrust of scientists is an urgent problem. With the onset of climate change, the imminent threats of pandemic or nuclear war, and rapid acceleration in the fields of artificial intelligence and DNA sequencing, innovations in science have the potential to change the world. It's crucial that we not only gain a better understanding of science as a field but also reestablish trust with its practitioners. The Shape of Wonder guides us through the fascinating lives and minds of scientists around the world and throughout time, from a young theoretical physicist who works as a research assistant professor at the University of Washington and rock climbs in their free time; to German physicist Werner Heisenberg in his early life, when he was a student of music and philosophy; to Govind Swarup, an Indian astronomer whose work on radio telescopes was profoundly important. We get an inside peek at what makes scientists tick--their daily lives, passions, and concerns about the societies they live in. In this work, Lightman and Rees pull back the curtain on the field of science, revealing that scientists are driven by the same sense of curiosity, wonder, and responsibility towards the future that shapes us all"-- Publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-204). |
| Genre/form | Biographies. |
| Genre/form | Informational works. |
| Genre/form | Biographies. |
| Genre/form | Documents d'information. |
| Genre/form | Biographies. |
| LCCN | 2024024705 |
| ISBN | 9780593702024 (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 0593702026 (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 9780593689462 (trade paperback) |
| ISBN | 0593689461 (trade paperback) |
| ISBN | (ebook) |