Blinkers: Scientific Ignorance and Evasion

This new book by the author of Quest - The Essence of Humanity makes the case for science to be taken seriously. When a horse wears blinkers there can be a winning advantage. Straight to the finishing line without distraction. For mankind, blinkered concentration on the path ahead can bring individual success. A period of world history or a nation's culture may appear to be predominantly rich in literature, art, music or science. Nevertheless the best chance for the future is a good education bringing the humanities and science together with the desirability of this being heightened among those individuals who form and advise democratic governments. In Britain and other Western democracies education appears to be less efficient than in other competing economies. Blinkers - Scientific Ignorance and Evasion takes C P Snow's idea of the two cultures and suggests that not only do we need a single culture in order to meet the challenge of the future but that we need to ensure science has its rightful part in good education and our ideas of what our culture should be. Pasternak describes how science is particularly undervalued in Britain. And in the United States science how it competes with irrational ideas to form judgements and decisions. How many scientists sit in British cabinets or are influential participants in US governments? Blinkers - Scientific Ignorance and Evasion removes the blinkers from our eyes. We may pay lip service to science but do we accept the need to place it at the heart of education so that it becomes natural for politicians and leaders to be well equipped to understand the world we live in? Pasternak's brief biographies of scientifically trained statesmen support his contention that one culture (and not C P Snow's Two Cultures) are the right prescription for the future.