Audiobook6 hours
Failure: Why Science Is So Successful
Written by Stuart Firestein
Narrated by Stephen Paul Aulridge, Jr.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
The general public has a glorified view of the pursuit of scientific research. However, the idealized perception of science as a rule-based, methodical system for accumulating facts could not be further from the truth. Modern science involves the idiosyncratic, often bumbling search for understanding in uncharted territories, full of wrong turns, false findings, and the occasional remarkable success. In his sequel to Ignorance (Oxford University Press, 2012), Stuart Firestein shows us that the scientific enterprise is riddled with mistakes and errors - and that this is a good thing! Failure: Why Science Is So Successful delves into the origins of scientific research as a process that relies upon trial and error, one which inevitably results in a hefty dose of failure. In fact, scientists throughout history have relied on failure to guide their research, viewing mistakes as a necessary part of the process. Citing both historical and contemporary examples, Firestein strips away the distorted view of science as infallible to provide the public with a rare, inside glimpse of the messy realities of the scientific process. An insiders view of how science is actually carried out, this book will delight anyone with an interest in science, from aspiring scientists to curious general readers. Accessible and entertaining, Failure illuminates the greatest and most productive adventure of human history, with all the missteps along the way.
Related to Failure
Related audiobooks
Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein - Colossal Mistakes by Great Scientists That Changed Our Understanding of Life and the Universe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Know This: Today's Most Interesting and Important Scientific Ideas, Discoveries, and Developments Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Idea is Brilliant: Lost, Overlooked, and Underappreciated Scientific Concepts Everyone Should Know Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Knowledge Machine: How Irrationality Created Modern Science Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scienceblind: Why Our Intuitive Theories About the World Are So Often Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How History Gets Things Wrong: The Neuroscience of Our Addiction to Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Trust Science? Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What is Life?: With Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alice and Bob Meet the Wall of Fire: The Biggest Ideas in Science from Quanta Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Theory and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The World According to Physics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret Life of Science: How It Really Works and Why It Matters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5To Explain the World: The Discovery of Modern Science Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Brain from Inside Out Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why?: What Makes Us Curious Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Models of the Mind: How Physics, Engineering and Mathematics Have Shaped Our Understanding of the Brain Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thinking: The New Science of Decision-Making, Problem-Solving, and Prediction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Explains Everything: Deep, Beautiful, and Elegant Theories of How the World Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What to Think About Machines That Think: Today's Leading Thinkers on the Age of Machine Intelligence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Idea Must Die: Scientific Theories That Are Blocking Progress Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Social Leap: The New Evolutionary Science of Who We Are, Where We Come From, and What Makes Us Happy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Minds Make Societies: How Cognition Explains the World Humans Create Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Should We Be Worried About?: Real Scenarios That Keep Scientists Up at Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyday Chaos: Technology, Complexity, and How We're Thriving in a New World of Possibility Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Spike: An Epic Journey Through the Brain in 2.1 Seconds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Enigma of Reason Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Science & Mathematics For You
Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thinking in Systems: A Primer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quantum Physics: What Everyone Needs to Know Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cosmos: A Personal Voyage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Salt: A World History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brain Rules (Updated and Expanded): 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Radiolab: Journey Through The Human Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Midnight in Chernobyl: The Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind: My Tale of Madness and Recovery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ghost Map Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Free Will Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Failure
Rating: 4.357142857142857 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
42 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Must read for anyone interested in science! This book is extremely thought-provoking and brings up some important concepts that must be dealt with. I wish this was required reading for all science educators, of which I am one.
3 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5book is quiet good ..must read by curious,aspirent folks!...n people who r into tech as well as science...bt always remember... failure is key to lock called success...by trial n error method!