A House Built on Sand Exposing Postmodernist Myths About Science [Hardcover]

Cultural critics say that science is politics by other means, arguing that the results of scientific inquiry are profoundly shaped by the ideological agendas of powerful elites. They base their claims on historical case studies purporting to show the systematic intrusion of sexist, racist, capitalist, colonialist and/or professional interests into the very content of science. Physicist Alan Sokal recently poked fun at these claims by foisting a sly parody of the genre on the unwitting editors of the cultural studies journalSocial Texttouching off a still unabated torrent of editorials, articles, and heated classroom and Internet discussion.

This hard-hitting collection picks up where Sokal left off. The essayists offer crisp and detailed critiques of case studies offered by the cultural critics as evidence that scientific results tell us more about social context than they do about the natural world. Pulling no punches, they identify numerous crude factual blunders (e.g. that Newton never performed any experiments) and egregious errors of emission, such as the attempt to explain the slow development of fluid dynamics solely in terms of gender bias. Where there are positive aspects of a flawed account, or something to be learned from it, they do not hesitate to say so. Their target is shoddy scholarship.

Comprising new essays by distinguished scholars of history, philosophy, and science (including Sokal himself), this book raises a lively debate to a new level of seriousness.

Editor Koertge offers an excellent array of writings dealing with controversies that have arisen in connection with science studies and the so-called 'Science Wars.' --Choice

This book is the latest and most explosive bomb to be launched in the 'science' wars.'...Academics on both sides of the debate will need this book. Expect a counterattack. --Library Journal

A thoughtful, wide-ranging, spirited, and highly informative cl3…