copyright 2017 Jennifer Coopersmith There is the beauty of a sunset, a rainbow, a perfect rose, a fractal pattern, and so on, but, in addition, there is the beauty of the scientific argument itself – logically compelling, spare, economical, yet explaining so much, and linking together previously unconnected facts into a grand unity. In other … Continue reading Science and Beauty
copyright 2017 Jennifer Coopersmith It is sometimes said that science is nothing but a refinement of common sense, but Einstein warns us that we must strive to overcome common sense and prejudice (a generalisation of novelist Evelyn Waugh’s idea that childhood is a trap, and each child must learn to escape from their own particular … Continue reading Science and common sense
copyright 2017 Jennifer Coopersmith The historian of science, Henry Guerlac, wrote that science and mathematics were the chief cultural products of the French Revolution. If someone doesn’t know who painted the Mona Lisa, or when the French Revolution occurred, we consider them to be uncultured, but what if they know nothing of Newton’s Laws or … Continue reading Science and Culture
Jennifer Coopersmith 