cover image The Shape of Wonder: How Scientists Think, Work, and Live

The Shape of Wonder: How Scientists Think, Work, and Live

Alan Lightman and Martin Rees. Pantheon, $28 (224p) ISBN 978-0-593-70202-4

Physicist and novelist Lightman (The Transcendent Brain) and astrophysicist Rees (If Science Is to Save Us) aim in this trenchant if overly broad treatise to dispel a growing mistrust of scientists in American society. They frame the scientific process as an apolitical pursuit of truth via experiment and critical thinking, with inherent characteristics—like the fact that theories are subject to change as new information becomes available—that fuel unfair accusations that scientists are “wishy-washy.” The authors call for scientists to take responsibility for their work, both by avoiding unethical experiments and using their knowledge to inform government “planning and policy” and raise concerns about social, technological, or environmental threats. Elsewhere, Lightman and Rees caution scientists, scientific review boards, and science journalists to ensure findings aren’t sensationalized via “overly dramatic headlines” that increase public mistrust, though how exactly scientists themselves might do that is less clear. The authors make a valuable effort to dismantle stereotypes of scientists as mouthpieces of elite institutions, though they sometimes cover too much ground in their eagerness to do so, ranging from the limits of future biotechological innovations to the workings of scientific review boards. Still, this offers plenty for readers to chew on. (Sept.)