1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910300369603321

Autore

Ronchi Claudio

Titolo

The Tree of Knowledge : The Bright and the Dark Sides of Science / / by Claudio Ronchi

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Springer, , 2014

ISBN

3-319-01484-6

Edizione

[1st ed. 2014.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (297 p.)

Disciplina

500

509

530

530.01

Soggetti

Physics

Popular works

History

History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics

Popular Science, general

History of Science

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- Time of Growth -- Birth an Floruit of Science in the Occident -- Scientific Research as a Global Enterprise -- The Crisis of Growth -- Orthodoxy vs. Heresy -- The Dissemination of Knowledge -- Beyond Mankind -- Artificial Intelligence and Post-Humanity -- Beginning and End -- Epilogue.

Sommario/riassunto

Whether considered a divine gift or a Promethean conquest, science has indisputably and indelibly marked the course of human history. A product of the intellectual elite, but always nourished by the many fruits of its applications, science appears today to be a perfect system, whose laws and discoveries guide all human activities. Yet the foundations of its authority remain an open question, entailing disquieting aspects that are also to be identified in modern science. Furthermore it is seen to be exerting an increasing power over mankind. Readers are invited to follow an itinerary through the history



of science, a voyage which, in the end, enables them to catch a glimpse of two divergent futures: One in which science accelerates the downfall of Homo sapiens, and another in which it helps our species to engage in a new and positive adventure, whose outcome nobody can know.