Science and the Human Prospect
by
Ronald C. Pine

Dedication and Preface (1st Edition)

Preface to the Online Edition (2nd Edition)

1. Introduction: Our Cosmological Roots

        Our Home in the Universe 
        Romancing the Universe
        Infinite Textures and the Microcosmos 
        The Cosmic Calendar
The Multiverse and Inflation
        The Relevance of the Cosmic Perspective
        Cosmic Brethren
        Concept Summary 
        Suggested Readings
2. Philosophical Interlude: Philosophy and the Scientific Method
        Science and Certainty 
        Scientific Method
        A Little Logic 
        Philosophical Terms 
        Science and Creativity
        Philosophical Issues 
        Concept Summary 
        Suggested Readings
3. Our Biological Roots: Evolution and Philosophical Issues
        Darwin and Natural Selection
        Fossil Evidence: "A Million Facts"
        Contemporary Observations of Evolution 
        Embryology: Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny 
        Universality of the Cell: Deoxyribonucleic Acid
Eco-Evo-Devo
        Philosophical Considerations 
        Lamarck and the Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics
        Scientific Creationism 
        The Design Argument 
        The Cosmological Argument 
        The Moral Argument 
        The Evolution of Emotion 
        The Naturalistic Fallacy 
        Concept Summary 
        Suggested Readings
4. Cultural Roots: 1. The Ancient Greeks
        Belief in Natural Law 
        Protagoras and the Sophists 
        Socrates and Plato
        Mathematics and Reality 
        Common Sense and Reality: The Allegory of the Cave
        Mathematics Today? Why Does It Work So Well? 
        Concept Summary 
        Suggested Readings
5. Cultural Roots: 2. Science and Religion -- The Copernican Revolution
        Plato's Homework Problem: The Problem of the Planets 
        Solutions to the Problem of the Planets 
        Instrumentalism, Realism, and Paradigms 
        Ptolemy: The Completion of the Geocentric Universe 
        Copernicus: The New Heliocentric Universe 
        Kepler, Galileo, and the Church 
        An Epistemological Reflection: Is There a Logic of Discovery? 
        Beliefs and Objectivity: Does the World Kick Back? 
        Concept Summary
        Suggested Readings
6. Cultural Roots: 3. Science as a Religion, the World as a Country
        Voyagers 
        Newton and a Greater God 
        Descartes: On the Shoulders of Giants
        Gravity, Action at a Distance, Absolute Space and Time 
        Descartes Compromise: Mind-Matter Dualism 
        Newton and the Divine Sensorium 
        Epistemological Implications of Newtonianism 
        Science as a Religion 
        Concept Summary 
        Suggested Readings
7. Our Time: 1. Understanding the Theory of Relativity
        Slow Time and Fast Time 
        David Hume: The Problem of Causality 
        Immanuel Kant: Turning Subjectivity into Objectivity 
        Concepts and Other Worlds 
        Einstein and a Philosophical Discovery 
        Cosmic Trains 
        Time Dilation
        Epistemological Implications 
        Concept Summary 
        Suggested Readings
8. Our Time: 2. Quantum Physics and Reality
        What is an Electron? Of Particles and Waves 
        Thought Experiments 
        The Copenhagen Interpretation 
        A Debate: Bohr versus Einstein 
        Bell's Discovery
        Quantum Jogging 
        The Aspect Experiment 
        Quantum Ignorance and Reality 
        A Paradigm for the Twenty-first Century? 
        Neorealism 
        Flat Land and Hyperspace 
        Many Worlds 
        The Participatory Universe 
        Mysticism and the Convergence Thesis
        String Theory
        Concept Summary 
        Suggested Readings Articles to Knock Your Socks Off
9. Darwin's Universe Revisited: Intelligence, Communication, and Extraterrestrial Life
        The Egocentric Illusion 
        Extraterrestrial Life 
        Intelligence and Evolutionary Convergence 
        Sagan's Cosmic Rosetta Stone 
        The Ontological Status of Mathematics
        Concept Summary 
        Suggested Readings
10. The Human Prospect
        Reptiles with Nuclear Weapons 
        Weapons and Hope 
        Meliorism and Nihilism: What is the Universe For? 
        Nietzsche and Socrates 
        Science as a Religion Revisited 
        The Anthropic Principle
        Voyager and the Second Death 
        Concept Summary 
        Suggested Readings
Copyright 2013 Ronald C. Pine All Rights Reserved.