The Third Culture: Beyond the Scientific Revolution

Massively illuminating, wide-ranging summary of the points of debate and research across the scientific spectrum (as of 15 years ago). I wonder whether there's a follow-up? Even if the essays presented do not quite bridge the gap between C P Snow's "Two Cultures", they go a long way toward a basic curriculum for all who are interested in the general state of science; the way each essay is followed by reactions from various other contributors really illustrates the idea that interesting things happen at the boundaries of things.

Brockman ties together material from interviews with scientists working on problems related to complexity in different disciplines to build an interesting picture of the state of the art in the mid-90s. This is one of those books that will make you want to go read a bunch of other books. [2005-12-25]

The emergence of science as a mainstay of our popular culture.

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