Beyond the Hoax :Science, Philosophy and Culture

3.97 ( 228 Ratings by Goodreads)
Beyond the Hoax

Beyond the Hoax :Science, Philosophy and Culture

(Author)
3.97 (228 Ratings by Goodreads)
paperback
Published: 11 February, 2010
Standard worldwide delivery by Fri, July 17 - Wed, July 22
Order within 0
Condition: NEW
$46.86
Price includes shipping
Available 20+ in stock
- +
Add to basket Wishlist This
FREE Returns within 30 days
More Details

Popular Books by Alan Sokal

View All Books by Alan Sokal
The War on Science
The War on Science
Alan Sokal
$24.50 $26.81
New
Add to basket
Superstition superieure
Superstition superieure
Alan Sokal
$34.90
New
Add to basket

Description

In 1996, Alan Sokal, a Professor of Physics at New York University, wrote a paper for the cultural-studies journal Social Text, entitled 'Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a transformative hermeneutics of quantum gravity'. It was reviewed, accepted and published. Sokal immediately confessed that the whole article was a hoax - a cunningly worded paper designed to expose and parody the style of extreme postmodernist criticism of science. The story became front-page news around the world and triggered fierce and wide-ranging controversy. Sokal is one of the most powerful voices in the continuing debate about the status of evidence-based knowledge. In Beyond the Hoax he turns his attention to a new set of targets - pseudo-science, religion, and misinformation in public life. 'Whether my targets are the postmodernists of the left, the fundamentalists of the right, or the muddle-headed of all political and apolitical stripes, the bottom line is that clear thinking, combined with a respect for evidence, are of the utmost importance to the survival of the human race in the twenty-first century.' The book also includes a hugely illuminating annotated text of the Hoax itself, and a reflection on the furore it provoked.
See more

More Details

Type Book
ISBN13 9780199561834
ISBN10 0199561834
Number Of Pages 488
Item Weight 847 g
Product Dimensions 171 x 246 x 28 mm
Publisher / Reseller Oxford University Press
Format paperback
See More +

Media Reviews

Review from previous edition If you're concerned about the role of science in making sense of our world, you need to read it. * BBC Focus, Robert Matthews *
Most scientists will be highly appreciative of and deeply fascinated by what Sokal has to say in this remarkable book. * Chemistry World *

Show more

GoodReads Reviews

Author's Bio

Alan Sokal is Professor of Physics at New York University and Professor of Mathematics at University College, London. His main research interests are in statistical mechanics and quantum field theory. Among non-physicists, Sokal is probably best known for his famous parody of postmodern science criticism, known as the 'Sokal Hoax', which aroused fierce debate in cultural circles, and received widespread coverage in the media, including front-page stories in the New York Times, the International Herald and Tribune, the Observer, and Le Monde. Alongside many publications in physics, Sokal's previous books include Intellectual Impostures (with Jean Bricmont, Profile Books, 1998; published as Fashionable Nonsense by Picador in the US).

Show more