Get Free Shipping on orders over $0
Why Beliefs Matter : Reflections on the Nature of Science - E. Brian Davies
eTextbook alternate format product

Instant online reading.
Don't wait for delivery!

Go digital and save!

Why Beliefs Matter

Reflections on the Nature of Science

By: E. Brian Davies

Paperback | 17 April 2014

At a Glance

Paperback


$80.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $20.19 with

 or 

Ships in 15 to 25 business days

In the follow-up to his acclaimed Science in the Looking Glass, Brian Davies discusses deep problems about our place in the world, using a minimum of technical jargon. The book argues that 'absolutist' ideas of the objectivity of science, dating back to Plato, continue to mislead generations of both theoretical physicists and theologians. It explains that the multi-layered nature of our present descriptions of the world is unavoidable, not because of anything about the world, but because of our own human natures. It tries to rescue mathematics from the singular and exceptional status that it has been assigned, as much by those who understand it as by those who do not. Working throughout from direct quotations from many of the important contributors to its subject, it concludes with a penetrating criticism of many of the recent contributions to the often acrimonious debates about science and religions.
Industry Reviews
`Davies has thought long and hard about the relationship of mathematics to the physical world, which gives him an interesting and even helpful perspective.' Josh Reeves, ESSSAT News 21.3 `Although some of the ideas in the book are complex, the presentation is both lucid and entertaining. It has made me re-evaluate my own beliefs about the nature of mathematics. Davies raises more questions than answers, and I strongly recommend to you this thought-provoking book.' Colva Roney-Dougal, The London Mathematical Society Newsletter `... a wide-ranging, thought-provoking meditation.' Manjit Kumar, New Scientist

Other Editions and Formats

Hardcover

Published: 1st July 2010

More in Philosophy of Science

The Demon-Haunted World : Science as a Candle in the Dark - Carl Sagan
Meditations : The Philosophy Classic - Marcus Aurelius

RRP $24.95

$21.75

13%
OFF
God, the Science, the Evidence - Michel-Yves Bollore

RRP $48.99

$38.75

21%
OFF
The Future Loves You : How and Why We Should Abolish Death - Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston
Prove It : A Scientific Guide for the Post-Truth Era - Elizabeth Finkel
What Is This Thing Called Science? - Alan Chalmers

RRP $27.99

$20.99

25%
OFF
Godel, Escher, Bach : An Eternal Golden Braid - Douglas R. Hofstadter

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF
Human/Nature : On life in a wild world - Jane Rawson

RRP $34.99

$29.99

14%
OFF
Big Sky : When the Emu Left the Earth - Bruce Pascoe

RRP $34.99

$28.75

18%
OFF
The Language of God : A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief - Francis Collins
Strata : Stories from Deep Time - Laura Poppick

RRP $49.95

$38.75

22%
OFF
Creative Machines : AI, Art & Us - Maya Ackerman

RRP $57.95

$44.75

23%
OFF
The Logic of Scientific Discovery : Routledge Classics - Karl Popper