The Joy of Science
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-04-13 06:52:26
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Jim Al-Khalili
- ISBN：0691211574
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Summary
Quantum physicist， New York Times bestselling author， and BBC host Jim Al-Khalili reveals how 8 lessons from the heart of science can help you get the most out of life
Today's world is unpredictable and full of contradictions， and navigating its complexities while trying to make the best decisions is far from easy。 The Joy of Science presents 8 short lessons on how to unlock the clarity， empowerment， and joy of thinking and living a little more scientifically。
In this brief guide to leading a more rational life， acclaimed physicist Jim Al-Khalili invites readers to engage with the world as scientists have been trained to do。 The scientific method has served humankind well in its quest to see things as they really are， and underpinning the scientific method are core principles that can help us all navigate modern life more confidently。 Discussing the nature of truth and uncertainty， the role of doubt， the pros and cons of simplification， the value of guarding against bias， the importance of evidence-based thinking， and more， Al-Khalili shows how the powerful ideas at the heart of the scientific method are deeply relevant to the complicated times we live in and the difficult choices we make。
Read this book and discover the joy of science。 It will empower you to think more objectively， see through the fog of your own preexisting beliefs， and lead a more fulfilling life。
Today's world is unpredictable and full of contradictions， and navigating its complexities while trying to make the best decisions is far from easy。 The Joy of Science presents 8 short lessons on how to unlock the clarity， empowerment， and joy of thinking and living a little more scientifically。
In this brief guide to leading a more rational life， acclaimed physicist Jim Al-Khalili invites readers to engage with the world as scientists have been trained to do。 The scientific method has served humankind well in its quest to see things as they really are， and underpinning the scientific method are core principles that can help us all navigate modern life more confidently。 Discussing the nature of truth and uncertainty， the role of doubt， the pros and cons of simplification， the value of guarding against bias， the importance of evidence-based thinking， and more， Al-Khalili shows how the powerful ideas at the heart of the scientific method are deeply relevant to the complicated times we live in and the difficult choices we make。
Read this book and discover the joy of science。 It will empower you to think more objectively， see through the fog of your own preexisting beliefs， and lead a more fulfilling life。
Reviews
Kiril Valchev
，
" The Joy of Science" събира осем кратки урока от прекрасния британски физик и популяризатор на науката， Джим Ал-Халили。 Съветите и посланията， умело изложени от автора， са част от така нужния ни инструментариум， за навигиране през информационната джунгла на съвремието и капаните， които собственото ни съзнание поставя。Чудесна книга， в защита на рационалното и простичкия здрав разум， който често ни убягва。 " The Joy of Science" събира осем кратки урока от прекрасния британски физик и популяризатор на науката， Джим Ал-Халили。 Съветите и посланията， умело изложени от автора， са част от така нужния ни инструментариум， за навигиране през информационната джунгла на съвремието и капаните， които собственото ни съзнание поставя。Чудесна книга， в защита на рационалното и простичкия здрав разум， който често ни убягва。 。。。more
Brian Clegg
，
While some pocket-sized science hardbacks have been very thin on content （think Rovelli's Seven Brief Lessons）， Jim Al-Khalili has demonstrated how it's possible to pack a feast for the mind into this compact form in The World According to Physics。 He is， however， trying to do something very different with The Joy of Science， even though the format is similar。The title gives nothing away （apart， possibly from a knowing reference to the work of Alex Comfort） - what Al-Khalili tries to do here is While some pocket-sized science hardbacks have been very thin on content （think Rovelli's Seven Brief Lessons）， Jim Al-Khalili has demonstrated how it's possible to pack a feast for the mind into this compact form in The World According to Physics。 He is， however， trying to do something very different with The Joy of Science， even though the format is similar。The title gives nothing away （apart， possibly from a knowing reference to the work of Alex Comfort） - what Al-Khalili tries to do here is to explain how scientists look at the world and from this to draw lessons for all of us on topics such as how 'Mysteries are to be embraced， but also to be solved'， 'If you don't understand something， it doesn't mean you can't if you try' and 'Don't value opinion over evidence' - that last a particularly difficult one at a time even academic institutions seem determined to rate feelings over reality in their effort to appeal to the cult of the individual。Because of this topic， Al-Khalili doesn't have the same ability to pack in the approachable science。 It can be easy when the author is a scientist， and is telling people how to avoid biases and how to be more like a scientist in their viewpoint， to come across as smug and arrogant。 Thankfully， Al-Khalili avoids this - he makes it clear that he is aware of his own biases。 This isn't just something the common people suffer from。 Even so， there is a real difficulty in telling us anything that is practically useful here。 For example， as we are told several times， you can argue with a conspiracy theorist as long as you like and you won't shift their opinion whatever approach you take。It's interesting to compare the book with Lee McIntyre's How to Talk to a Science Denier。 Unlike McIntyre， Al-Khalili doesn't tell much in the way of stories of dealing with those who struggle with scientific thinking （though， to be fair， McIntyre mostly fails to engage with real science deniers in his narrative sections） - but Al-Khalili does have a clearer picture of what the issues are and at least how the reader can take a viewpoint that is more likely to result in an appropriate analysis， even if this won't help persuade someone who simply isn't prepared to listen to the evidence。The book's least successful part for me is where Al-Khalili explains what science does。 He makes the odd statement that 'A physicist like me tries to uncover ultimate truths about how the world is。' Leaving aside the Kantian idea that we can never engage with true reality （Kant's 'Ding an sich'） only phenomena， this is an oversimplified view of science。 While it's true， as Al-Khalili says， that part of the job of science is collecting facts that are indisputable， such as the value of the acceleration due to gravity， that's not the interesting part。 The best bits of science， particularly physics， are not about what happens， but why or how it happens。 When that's the case， science isn't about reaching ultimate truths， but about establishing the best theory given the current evidence。 It is only by recognising this that we can truly explain what science involves - and what drives and fascinates many scientists。Similarly， despite claiming to be aware of his own biases， I don't think Al-Khalili is prepared to be detached enough from those biases when， for example， he remarks 'Is superstring theory。。。 not proper science because we don't （yet） know how to test it and therefore cannot claim it to be falsifiable？' The answer to that， without the bias of a working physicist， is 'Yes'。 It isn't proper science。 It may become so， but it certainly isn't yet and may well never be。There are some limitations， then， to this book - and it certainly isn't as engaging a read as Al-Khalili's The World According to Physics - but it is a worthwhile attempt at something important and well worth taking a look at。 。。。more
Evelyn
，
The title of this book is a bit of a misnomer unless you want to draw an analogy to the “Joy of Cooking” because what the book does is teach the reader how to apply scientific practices， procedures and methodologies to the problems facing the reader in everyday life。 Such problems include dissecting facts and opinions， discerning what information is accurate and correct， and deciding what is the appropriate course of action or decision that the reader should make under particular circumstances。T The title of this book is a bit of a misnomer unless you want to draw an analogy to the “Joy of Cooking” because what the book does is teach the reader how to apply scientific practices， procedures and methodologies to the problems facing the reader in everyday life。 Such problems include dissecting facts and opinions， discerning what information is accurate and correct， and deciding what is the appropriate course of action or decision that the reader should make under particular circumstances。The author’s arguments and examples are interesting。 Yet， at times he is too verbose。 Therefore， the narrative can be tedious。 As a result the book rates 3。5 stars。 。。。more
Dale
，
Interesting reed on how thinking scientifically can help navigating to days world。
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Joy of Science
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Joy of Science&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Joy of Science&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0