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The Science of Liberty: Democracy, Reason, and the Laws of Nature |  | Author: Timothy Ferris
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book
List Price: $26.99
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Seller: Mr. Translator
Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 137477
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 384
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0060781505
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.483
EAN: 9780060781507
ASIN: 0060781505
Publication Date: February 1, 2010
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Product Description
In his most important book to date, award-winning author Timothy Ferris—"the best popular science writer in the English language today" (Christian Science Monitor)—makes a passionate case for science as the inspiration behind the rise of liberalism and democracy. Ferris argues that just as the scientific revolution rescued billions from poverty, fear, hunger, and disease, the Enlight-enment values it inspired has swelled the number of persons living in free and democratic societies from less than 1 percent of the world population four centuries ago to more than a third today. Ferris deftly investigates the evolution of these scientific and political revolutions, demonstrating that they are inextricably bound. He shows how science was integral to the American Revolution but misinterpreted in the French Revolution; reflects on the history of liberalism, stressing its widely underestimated and mutually beneficial relationship with science; and surveys the forces that have opposed science and liberalism—from communism and fascism to postmodernism and Islamic fundamentalism. A sweeping intellectual history, The Science of Liberty is a stunningly original work that transcends the antiquated concepts of left and right.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
 Ferris's best book by far March 7, 2010
Steve Summers (San Diego)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
My enjoyment of science books has been sorely tempered by an allergy to dull writing. Academia, the source of most modern science, is infamous for precisely that. Years ago I discovered Timothy Ferris's "Coming of Age in the Milky Way" and loved his contagious sense of wonder, the dramatic narrative of our ongoing discovery of our place in the cosmos, and his lucid prose and ingenious analogies. I've been avidly reading his astronomy & cosmology books ever since.
"The Science of Liberty" is arguably his best book: it has all his trademark eloquence and a vastly more relevant topic. But the huge popularity of his earlier books won't repeat here. Ferris has stepped from neutral ground onto a morally charged minefield to forcefully argue that individual liberty and scientific inquiry are historically and inseparably linked, and that together they form the principal engine of human progress. Any book taking a passionate and unequivocal moral stand will provoke loud protests from someone. Neither science nor liberty have historically lacked powerful and visible enemies: religions, monarchies, dictatorships, holy terrorists, etc. Their heirs won't be reading this book. The incandescently obvious success of (small "l") liberal democracies and scientists in improving human life on our planet has forced most of its modern adversaries underground--where they chip away at the basic assumptions of science and lobby for ever tighter limits on freedom. They will hate this book and you'll surely be hearing from some of them on this page.
A prefatory note: The title isn't meant to imply that liberty or liberal governance is a science. The author means to show that science and liberty were siblings born of common parents. Much of the book details the intertwined emergence of human rights and scientific experimentation with original observations, and unusual examples. It reveals in anecdotes & capsule biographies the conspicuous overlap of in proponents of liberty and iconic early scientists--even the odd lapses of overlap. A paraphrase from Lewis Thomas sets a basic pillar of this thesis: "...the greatest discovery of modern science was of the dimensions, not of cosmic space and time, but of human ignorance." (My note: That perceived ignorance was enormous then, and is growing rather than shrinking. The notion that all worth knowing is already known is as old as humanity, and thrives today--not just in Waziristan.)
The common ground of science and democracy is broad: the inherent messiness, the need for freedoms of association, speech, inquiry and press, the diffusion of authority through consensus, the permanent mutability of judgment. These are repellent to people who prefer direct acts of dictatorial intervention, unchallengeable moral axioms, or permanent (capital"T") Truths. We easily imagine the stereotype forms of this opposition, but Ferris extends his criticism of illiberal ideas beyond the usual suspects. Coercive agendas are reentering modern politics in force. In America the Republican & Democratic parties both include majority factions who see ideas they wish suppressed, research they wish limited, trade they want prevented, liberties they want canceled.
Ferris has his own chart of contemporary politics. He proposes replacing the 1-dimensional Left/Right paradigm with a 2-D space showing the political spectrum shown as a triangle: Left & Right on the bottom corners, labeled "Progressive" & "Conservative" with (small "l") "liberal" at the upper apex. (This denotes liberalism in its original sense, a principled devotion to individual freedom, before before the word evolved to describe advocacy of a progressively expanding sphere of regulatory governance. (Ferris could as well have named his apex corner "Libertarian" and left the Liberal label on the left.) Later on he appends a second lower triangle to this 3-D graph to accommodate a "Totalitarian" corner at bottom center (thus forming a de facto square--an idea suggested long ago by a Libertarian writer whose name I've forgotten).
His relatively light chastisement "progressives" and "conservatives" is prudent and sensible: most of them support science in general and most pay at least occasional lip service to liberty. The gloves come off when exposing dictatorships (expected) and the radical anti-science fringe and police state-friendly professors within academia (not as expected), particularly the "deconstructionists" and the countless academic cranks who've made profitable careers attacking science, liberty, & virtually anything associated with Western Civilization. There's a good bibliography if you're skeptical of his descriptions of academic intolerance.
Clarity of prose is a fair indicator of clarity of mind. A good idea can be presented boringly, but a bad idea clearly expressed won't travel far. Compare the transparent clarity of this book with obfuscatory jargon of "Postmodern" academic neo-medievalists and you'll know why they write so opaquely--and what makes this book by contrast so well thought out, so utterly wise, necessary, and best of all, so wonderfully readable.
A non - expert reader's word of approval March 14, 2010
Shalom Freedman (Jerusalem,Israel)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The central thesis of this work which connects scientific method and research with political democracy and liberalism is one which seems to me right. The non- authoritarian character of science, the focus on experiment and testing by empirical reality, the valuing of individual freedom, and willingness to make use of all potential talent, the capacity for self- correction, the remarkable power and capacity of Science and Technology to transform the world and improve the human condition, seem to fit well with the emphasis on Democracy, political freedom,individual liberty. Ferris' argument as I understand it is even stronger for he does not see a complementary connection only but also a causative one. The scientific mind and temperament of the Founding Fathers of the American Republic is contrasted with the authoritarian mind - set of absolutist French Revolutionaries. In a sense Ferris is getting at here an idea which has been developed at least in some degree by thinkers diverse as Karl Popper and Eric Hoffer, There is an opposition between the closed- minded fixed answer way of seeing the world and the open- minded experimental way. The latter is the way of the democracies and the former is the way of the Totalitarians whether they be in the political world or in the academic.
In all this I see Ferris as on the side of the angels. I do not know enough to really either defend or take issue with the body of his historical story. I too tend to sympathize with his strong critique of the Post- Modern nonsensists,
But I do wonder and am troubled by where Humanity as a whole now is in relation to the developments which have been described. Does the rise of scientific researches which involve very vast collaborative efforts really make room still for the work of individual genius? Have we perhaps reached a stage in Scientific Development where the individual creator is necessarily going to be marginalized, especially as there is work to create kinds of machine- minds which many believe will have powers far beyond the human? Is the fairly rosy picture of increasing Democracy politically really what is happening in the world, or is still a relatively small part of humanity which has true liberty and is involved in the truly creative scientific work? While clearly the argument for the overall benefit of scientific and technological progress of humanity is strong, there are also those possibilities and scenarios which indicate how through scientific and technical means mankind has done and will do incredible harm not only to the terrestial environment but to the very essence of what humanity is?
Briefly, it seems to me nothing is guaranteed . Francis Fukyama was a bit optimistic. And whether mankind will move in the direction of increased knowledge increased well- being and freedom is too a real question.
It would be tragic for us all if the development traced here, the development of scientific progress and political freedom proves not to be a continuous and ongoing one, but one which only describes a brief human interval of a few hundred years.
As science spreads, so will democracy..."one funeral at a time" April 1, 2010
Steve Reina (Troy Michigan)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
One of George W. Bush's decidedly lessor known quotes is perhaps his most interesting, specifically: "As democracy spreads, so will peace."
While the course of history does seem idiosyncratic, one cannot help but wonder whether the Bush quote, along with the similar sounding Ferris thesis that is the subject of this book are more than mere pleasant myths.
In his usual compelling style, Ferris takes us on a 291 page journey through history and philosophy showing that where societies have been more committed to democratic principles, they've also been conducive to the same type of culture that fosters investigatory science.
Namely, they topple the sacred cows that questions may find their own answers through empirical testing. Good science does seem to require free and open discussion and it also does seem to have a corrosive effect on artificially imposed authority.
As I read this book, I couldn't help but remember the Thomas Kuhn masterpiece, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Interestingly enough, while Kuhn embraced many of the high sounding ideas about the scientific ideal Ferris discusses in this book, he also reminded readers of the very real human limitations of the scientists who actually advance the course of science. Importantly, Kuhn observed that as they grew older, even scientists would become regid in their application of old rules. He suggested that science proceeded "one funeral at a time" in that sometimes it required the death of greatly respected scientists in order for new ideas to get their fair hearing.
What this means is that maybe there's something inherent and significant about this "one funeral at a time" rule. Perhaps, as I suggested earlier, Ferris' "mere pleasant myth" is true but maybe even the course of scientific progress has its own speed limit, its Kuhn limit.
Regardless of the foregoing, this is a great, thought provoking book, a view of history through the lens of science. Like all of Ferris' work, I'd highly recommend it, as always, being great food for thought.
A New View of America's Founding April 2, 2010
P. Johnson
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
After finishing the first three chapters of this great book, I've decided to go back to the beginning and to start over.
What I've read so far is so fascinating that I want to take notes.
Ferris opens an entirely new world of understanding about my country to me.
We owe him a great debt of gratitude for the effort it took to make this book a reality.
fascinating and relevant February 18, 2010
L. Heldfond
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
ferris is at his best in this well paced, thoroughly engaging book. i strongly recommend it for anyone interested in science and politics. it especially relevant today considering the massive political/scientific issues we facce: climate change, energy, stem cells, etc. great read that left me feeling encouraged and hopeful!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
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