To contain "tradition" in a reasonable dimension, it is necessary to conceive the contemporary level of science. The publications in "Edge" are, I think, helpful to make a comprehensive picture of the latter.
"One of the differences between the traditions of science and the humanities
is that the humanities have become traditions of reading and writing. People in these fields don't talk to each other.They sit at home and they sit in their offices and they construct sentences and paragraphs, andthey don't speak to each other. Scientists speak to each other, first and foremost. Our culture isverbal, and we know how to talk to people. Go to a talk given by somebody in philosophy orliterary theory. Notice that they invariably will read something that they've written, word for word. Very few scientists will ever do that. For me, the scientists grouped under
the name of the third culture represent more than just a set of academics who write and speak to the general public. There are philosophical ideas that they share, to a greater or lesser extent. If I may be very optimistic, I see a kind of rebirth of the tradition of natural philosophy, but based on a new picture of the world —
a picture different from the one that the original, seventeenth-century natural philosophers shared.
This new spirit has several overarching themes, which are not hard to state. Of first importance is
the idea that the world is not static or eternal, it evolves in time. The world was different in
the past and it will be different in the future. In the nineteenth century, we discovered that this
was true of the biological world, and in the twentieth century we've discovered that it's true of
the universe as a whole. In my opinion, we're only now beginning to realize the implications
of these discoveries, just as it took more than a century for the implications of Copernicus's
discoveries to become evident." (The Third Culture, p.16...Lee Smolin quoted)
****
The "Minds" behind - The Third Culture
The online version of the book:
***
The Third Culture (1995)
Beyond the Scientific Revolution
by John Brockman
the past and it will be different in the future. In the nineteenth century, we discovered that this
was true of the biological world, and in the twentieth century we've discovered that it's true of
the universe as a whole. In my opinion, we're only now beginning to realize the implications
of these discoveries, just as it took more than a century for the implications of Copernicus's
discoveries to become evident." (The Third Culture, p.16...Lee Smolin quoted)
****
The "Minds" behind - The Third Culture
The online version of the book:
***
The Third Culture (1995)
Beyond the Scientific Revolution
by John Brockman
...There are some more now. (1995-2009). See the actual online Edge Publication.
http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/snow09/snow09_index.html
***
