National Academy of Science
Dr. Michael Sosteric | Jan 23, 2012 | Comments 1
Science, science, science. Has there ever been a thing more wondrous and beautiful, terrible and ugly, than science? From acetylsalicylic acid to atom bombs, Prozac to Pontiac, it is impossible to deny that science is at least partially responsible. So find out more about it, and teach your students well. Make Good Science a textbook in your methods, theory, or even introductory class.
In Good Science, Tim McGettigan argues that the pursuit of truth has often radically transformed conceptions of the cosmos while also instigating profound transformations in social reality. From Galileo, to Darwin, Einstein and beyond, landmark achievements in science have transformed the way that we perceive and live in the real world. While science has certainly been blamed for many problems (e.g., overpopulation, pollution, global warming, nuclear waste, nuclear Armageddon, etc.), McGettigan also insists that science has also created far more advantages, comforts and opportunities than anyone could have imagined even a generation ago. Therefore, McGettigan concludes that, if we want to create a better, brighter future, then we will need good scientists to continue to pursue more challenging problematics that will, in turn, transform today’s fantasies (such as: artificial intelligence, immortality, and, yes!, even 100 Year Starships, www.100yss.org) into tomorrow’s realities.
Filed Under: The Lightning Strike
About the Author: I'm a sociologist at Athabasca University where I coordinate,amongst other things, the introductory sociology courses (Sociology I and Sociology II). FYI I did my dissertation in the political economy of scholarly communication (you can read it if you want). It's not that bad.
My current interests lie in the area of scholarly communication and pedagogy, the sociology of spirituality and religion, consciousness research, entheogens, inequality and stratification, and the revolutionary potential of authentic spirituality.
The Socjourn is my pet project. It started as the Electronic Journal of Sociology but after watching our social elites systematically dismantle the potential of eJournals to alter the politics and economies of scholarly communication, I decided I'd try something a little different. That something is The Socjourn, a initiative that bends the rules of scholarly communication and pedagogy by disregarding academic ego and smashing down the walls that divide our little Ivory Tower world from the rest of humanity.
If you are a sociologist or a sociology student and you have a burning desire to engage in a little institutional demolition by perhaps writing for the Socjourn, contact me. If you are a graduate student and you have some ideas that you think I might find interesting, contact me. I supervise graduate students through Athabasca Universities MAIS program.
What to know about the nature of money, the value of money, and money's role in our modern economies of exchange, then download The Rocket Scientists' Guide to Money and the Economy and let the truth set you free. [
Want to really understand the world that you live in? Then take
Interesting presentation. A different twist on an ongoing argument in sociology. My impression is that good science should be for the regular people, not the power brokers who run countries for their own needs. Knowledge is power, and in the wrong hands it is devastating to the powerless. Robert