Science and Human Experience
Values, Culture, and the Mind

Nobel Laureate Leon N. Cooper places pressing scientific questions in the broader context of how they relate to human experience.

Leon N. Cooper (Author)

9781107043176, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 November 2014

256 pages, 33 b/w illus.
22.3 x 14.7 x 1.9 cm, 0.43 kg

'Science and Human Experience is a collection of essays drawn from work published over a 40-year span by that remarkable theorist-scientist Leon Cooper. And these really are essays - reasonably short, often argumentative, filled with startling insights, and written from a personal perspective about issues of great interest. Cooper's writing style is charming, witty, and accessible; the essays … [are] fun to read.' Gary S. Lynch, Cerebrum

Does science have limits? Where does order come from? Can we understand consciousness? Written by Nobel Laureate Leon N. Cooper, this book places pressing scientific questions in the broader context of how they relate to human experience. Widely considered to be a highly original thinker, Cooper has written and given talks on a large variety of subjects, ranging from the relationship between art and science, possible limits of science, to the relevance of the Turing test. These essays and talks have been brought together for the first time in this fascinating book, giving readers an opportunity to experience Cooper's unique perspective on a range of subjects. Tackling a diverse spectrum of topics, from the conflict of faith and science to whether understanding neural networks could lead to machines that think like humans, this book will captivate anyone interested in the interaction of science with society.

Part I. Science and Society: 1. Science and human experience
2. Does science undermine our values?
3. Can science serve mankind?
4. Modern science and contemporary discomfort: metaphor and reality
5. Faith and science
6. Art and science
7. Fraud in science
8. Why study science? The keys to the cathedral
9. Is evolution a theory? A modest proposal
10. The silence of the second
11. Introduction to Copenhagen
12. The unpaid debt
Part II. Thought and Consciousness: 13. Source and limits of human intellect
14. Neural networks
15. Thought and mental experience: the Turing test
16. Mind as machine: will we rubbish human experience?
17. Memory and memories: a physicist's approach to the brain
18. On the problem of consciousness
Part III. On the Nature and Limits of Science: 19. What is a good theory?
20. Shall we deconstruct science?
21. Visible and invisible in physical theory
22. Experience and order
23. The language of physics
24. The structure of space
25. Superconductivity and other insoluble problems
26. From gravity to light and consciousness: does science have limits?

Subject Areas: Popular science [PDZ], History of science [PDX], Impact of science & technology on society [PDR], Philosophy of science [PDA], Science: general issues [PD]