Every issue has one section dedicated to a particular question. Collecting responses from a range of perspectives, these symposia prompt us to think about the values and ideas that shape our most urgent cultural and personal decisions.
“When this question is squarely and thoughtfully faced, scientists will agree that science exists for man, and not for itself alone...”
What Is Science for?
“What is science for, if it does not equip us to face and absorb the shocks of the future?”
Popular Science
Gladwell’s book succeeded because it eradicated the barriers between disciplines; Pennebaker’s succeeded because it presented one very powerful idea that tied together disparate worlds. But…
The Soviet Science System
The Soviet Science System presented one enormously influential solution to the perpetual problem of expertise—and then it vanished. Mostly.
In Praise of Things
To think, with panicked humanists past and present, that science fixes the world in place and deadens the imagination is to come to a rash…
Wonder and the Ends of Inquiry
Wonder is not only a peculiarly human passion; it is also one that, at least on this account, underscores the limits of human knowledge. The…
