Word: weinbergs
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
According to Weinberg, our accepted theory of physics is the way it is simply because it can be no other way. Science works by starting with a set of observations and developing a model that matches them and predicts new results. There are no “cultural biases” to these truths—an experiment either worked or it didn’t. Or as Weinberg puts it, “Nature cares little about what scientists prefer.” Only the Standard Model, despite its various weaknesses, comes close to explaining our world...
...Weinberg is at his best in three separate chapters: “Sokal’s Hoax,” “The Non-Revolution of Thomas Kuhn” and the wonderful conclusion “Looking for Peace in the Science Wars,” where he attacks head-on the complaints that science—particularly physics—is culturally biased. He points out that many people from other cultures have indeed contributed to the world of mathematics and physics: C.N. Yang, whose work with fundamental particles have formed the basis for the now widely...
...fight has dragged on, and here we have Steven Weinberg, one of the most celebrated scientists of the twentieth century, weighing in. And by “weighing in” I mean precisely what I say—aside from a few moments of genuine hilarity, the overall heaviness of his writing makes his work difficult reading. Which is not to say that the book is not interesting; it is, but it requires a dogged determination to finish and a willingness to deal with large amounts of irrelevancy...
...more likely, sheer laziness, Facing Up was left as a group of essays rather than a condensed work. The negative results of this are threefold: overwhelming repetition of the same basic facts; an even more substantial amount of completely irrelevant material; and absence of the actual essay or letters Weinberg is responding to, which often renders the author’s points utterly useless for lack of context. In fact, for those interested in the meat of author’s arguments, I advise skipping directly to Chapter 12: “Sokal’s Hoax...
...that he seems to misunderstand many of the arguments against him. He dismisses them because they violate the axioms that he has chosen to live by. What exactly is “truth” and what does it mean “to know”? To Weinberg, truth is learned through observations, and we test theories by how they conform to those observations. To his critics, the very nature of who Weinberg is affects those observations, and thus they can’t be counted on to deliver the fundamental truth. That said, precise, specific and, above...