The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing

진화생물학자 리차드 도킨스가 중요한 현대과학 저작물들을 정리하고 옥스포드가 출판한 영국판이다. 거의 모든 과학분야를 다루고 있지만 물리학과 생물학 중심으로 정리하면 다음과 같다. 현재의 우주는 빅뱅에서 생겨났다. 빅뱅이후에 시간과 공간이 생겨났기 때문에 빅뱅 이전에 대해 말하는 것은 시공간속에서 인식하는 인간에겐 무의미한 진술일 뿐이다. 빅뱅이후 우주의 법칙에 대해 확실한 증거가 아니라 합리적인 추론에 따라 말할 수 있는 것은 우주는 어떤 목적도 없이 우연히 “단순함에서 복잡함으로” 진화한다는 사실이다. 우연이 지배하는 “확률적 세상”에선 충분한 시간이 주어진다면 불가능하다고 여겨지는 일들도 얼마든지 발생할 수 있다. 논의 대상을 생명체로 좁혀도 마찬가지이다. 그리고 단순함에서 복잡함을 낳을 수 있는 생명현상은 자연선택에 의한 진화뿐이다. “엄청난 시간동안 하찮은 변화의 점진적 누적”에 의한 진화.물론, 어떤 이론이든지 반론과 예외가 존재하기 때문에 과학엔 절대적 진리라는 것은 존재하지 않는다. 일시적으로 권위에 의존한 이론이 우세할 수도 있지만, 장기적으로 “신성불가침의 절대적 진리는 없다”. 게다가 과학이론 가운데 나중에 틀렸다고 밝혀진 것들도 많다.그러나, 우리가 이용가능한 지식 중 가장 믿을만한 원천은 과학임이 분명하다. 과학은 자신의 “오류를 스스로 교정하는 기능”이 있기 때문이다. 자기검증은 커녕, 진리를 선포하고 “자신의 생각과 다르다고 배척하는 일은 종교나 정치에서 흔한 일이지만, 진리를 추구하는 사람에겐 결코 바람직한 행동이 아니다.” 세상을 있는 그대로 보지 않고 자신의 희망에 따라 보려는 자는 존재유무도 불확실한 지식에 자신을 맡기는 비겁한 미신숭배자이다. 창의적인 상상력으로 가설을 세우고 공상과 팩트를 구분하는 현실감으로 가설을 검증하는 자세만큼 아름답고 용기있는 행동이 어디 있겠는가.따라서, 사이비 과학과 “미신이 출몰하는 세상”에서 길을 잃지 않기 위해, 모든것을 의심만하는 차가운 이성이나 의심없이 모든 일에 감탄하는 감성이 아니라, 느낌표보다는 의문사에 가중치를 두는 회의주의자로서 자리매김할 필요가 있다."One of the reasons for its success is that science has built-in, error-correcting machinery at its very heart. Every time we execise self-critism, every time we test our ideas against the outside world, we are doing science. When we are self indulgent and uncritical, When we confuse hopes and facts, we slide into pseudoscience and superstion."
Boasting almost one hundred articles and book excerpts, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing is a breathtaking celebration of the finest writing by scientists-the best such collection in print-packed with scintillating essays on everything from The Discovery of Lucy to The Terror and Vastness of the Universe.

Edited by best-selling author and renowned scientist Richard Dawkins, this sterling collection brings together exhilarating pieces by a who s who of scientists and science writers, including Stephen Pinker, Stephen Jay Gould, Martin Gardner, Albert Einstein, Julian Huxley, and many dozens more. Readers will find excerpts from bestsellers such as Douglas R. Hofstadter s Godel, Escher, Bach, Francis Crick s Life Itself, Loren Eiseley s The Immense Journey, Daniel Dennett s Darwin s Dangerous Idea, and Rachel Carson s The Sea Around Us. There are classic essays ranging from J.B.S. Haldane s On Being the Right Size and Garrett Hardin s The Tragedy of the Commons to Alan Turing s Computing Machinery and Intelligence and Albert Einstein s famed New York Times article on Relativity. And readers will also discover lesser-known but engaging pieces such as Lewis Thomas s Seven Wonders of Science, J. Robert Oppenheimer on War and Physicists, and Freeman Dyson s memoir of studying under Hans Bethe.

A must-read volume for all science buffs, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing is a rich and vibrant anthology that captures the poetry and excitement of scientific thought and discovery.

Featured Writers and Extracts xi
Introduction xvii
What Scientists Study
from The Mysterious Universe James Jeans 3
from Just Six Numbers Martin Rees 4
from Creation Revisited Peter Atkins 11
from The Ant and the Peacock Helena Cronin 16
from The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection R. A. Fisher 18
from Mankind Evolving Theodosius Dobzhansky 22
from Adaptation and Natural Selection G. C. Williams 27
from Life Itself Francis Crick 30
from Genome Matt Ridley 35
Theoretical Biology in the Third Millennium Sydney Brenner 40
from The Language of the Genes Steve Jones 48
from On Being the Right Size J. B. S. Haldane 53
from The Explanation of Organic Diversity Mark Ridley 59
The Importance of the Nervous System in the Evolution of Animal Flight John Maynard Smith 61
from Man in the Universe Fred Hoyle 66
from On Growth and Form DArcy Thompson 69
fromThe Meaning of Evolution G. G. Simpson 78
from Trilobite! Richard Fortey 82
from The Mind Machine Colin Blakemore 86
from Mirrors in Mind Richard Gregory 89
One Self: A Meditation on the Unity of Consciousness Nicholas Humphrey 96
from The Language Instinct and How the Mind Works Steven Pinker 103
from The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee Jared Diamond 110
from The Life of the Robin David Lack 114
from Curious Naturalists Niko Tinbergen 115
from Social Evolution Robert Trivers 123
from The Open Sea Alister Hardy 127
from The Sea Around Us Rachel Carson 130
from How Flowers Changed the World Loren Eiseley 138
from The Diversity of Life Edward O. Wilson 143
Who Scientists Are
from The Expanding Universe Arthur Eddington 151
from the Foreword to G. H. Hardys A Mathematicians Apology C. P. Snow 152
from Disturbing the Universe Freeman Dyson 157
from War and the Nations J. Robert Oppenheimer 161
A Passion for Crystals Max F. Perutz 168
Said Ryle to Hoyle Barbara George Gamow 172
Cancers a Funny Thing J. B. S. Haldane 174
from The Identity of Man Jacob Bronowski 176
from Science and Literature, Darwins Illness, The Phenomenon of Man, the postscript to Lucky Jim, and D Arcy Thompson and Growth and Form Peter Medawar 179
from Self-Made Man Jonathan Kingdon 188
from Origins Reconsidered Richard Leakey Roger Lewin 190
from Lucy Donald C. Johanson Maitland A. Edey 195
Worm for a Century, and All Seasons Stephen Jay Gould 200
from Life Cycles John Tyler Bonner 211
from Uncle Tungsten Oliver Sacks 214
Seven Wonders Lewis Thomas 219
from Avoid Boring People James Watson 226
from What Mad Pursuit Francis Crick 229
from The Unnatural Nature of Science Lewis Wolpert 232
from Essays of a Biologist Julian Huxley 234
Religion and Science Albert Einstein 235
from The Demon-Haunted World Carl Sagan 239
What Scientists Think
from The Character of Physical Law Richard Feynman 247
from What is Life? Erwin Schrodinger 249
from Darwins Dangerous Idea and Consciousness Explained Daniel Dennett 254
from The Growth of Biological Thought Ernst Mayr 259
from The Tragedy of the Commons Garrett Hardin 263
from Geometry for the Selfish Herd and Narrow Roads of Geneland W. D. Hamilton 266
from How Nature Works Per Bak 273
The Fantastic Combinations of John Conways New Solitaire Game Life Martin Gardner 276
from Mathematics for the Million Lancelot Hogben 284
from The Miraculous Jar Ian Stewart 289
from The Mathematical Theory of Communication Claude E. Shannon Warren Weaver 297
from Computing Machinery and Intelligence Alan Turing 305
from What is the Theory of Relativity? Albert Einstein 314
from Mr Tompkins George Gamow 317
from The Goldilocks Enigma Paul Davies 323
from The Time and Space of Uncle Albert Russell Stannard 332
from The Elegant Universe Brian Greene 336
from A Brief History of Time Stephen Hawking 342
What Scientists Delight In
from Truth and Beauty S. Chandrasekhar 349
from A Mathematicians Apology G. H. Hardy 352
from Dreams of a Final Theory Steven Weinberg 357
from The Life of the Cosmos Lee Smolin 362
from The Emperors New Mind Roger Penrose 367
from Godel, Escher, Bach: The Eternal Golden Braid Douglas Hofstadter 371
from Geons, Black Holes, and Quantum Foam John Archibald Wheeler Kenneth Ford 378
from The Fabric of Reality David Deutsch 381
from The Periodic Table Primo Levi 383
from Life: An Unauthorized Biography Richard Fortey 390
from The Meaning of Evolution George Gaylord Simpson 392
from Little Men and Flying Saucers Loren Eiseley 393
from Pale Blue Dot Carl Sagan 394
Acknowledgements 397
Index 401

cavernosum(해면체) , doctrine(원칙) , send(보내다) , struggle(투쟁하다)