Jerome R. Ravetz Books

Science is continually confronted by new and difficult social and ethical problems. Some of these problems have arisen from the transformation of the academic science of the prewar period into the industrialized science of the present. Traditional theories of science are now widely recognized as obsolete. In Scientific Knowledge and Its Social Problems (originally published in 1971), Jerome R. Ravetz analyzes the work of science as the creation and investigation of problems. He demonstrates the role of choice and value judgment, and the inevitability of error, in scientific research. Ravetz's new introductory essay is a masterful statement of how our understanding of science has evolved over the last two decades.

“A splendid series of pocketable guides to issue-politics rigorously clear.”The Guardian Can we trust scientists? Can we develop science and technology to improve, not destroy, human life and the planet? The No-Nonsense Guide to Science addresses these crucial questions. Considering a range of subjects as diverse as genetic engineering, biotechnology, medicine and military science, Jerry Ravetz argues that understanding science as a processand sometimes a businessinvolving funding, research, reputations and publication gives us the best basis for effective action in the future. The latest volume in the acclaimed No-Nonsense series is an invaluable primer for all those involved in scientific study, research or commercial exploitation.