Notes from my history of philosophy course lecture on Darwin, Maxwell, Einstein, and Bohr
Darwin the abolitionist
The theory of evolution is regarded as a triumph of disinterested scientific reason. Yet, on the 150th anniversary of "On the Origin of Species," new research reveals that Darwin was driven to the idea of common descent by a great moral cause
What stories should we tell about scientific progress now?
In search of the mysterious fruits of basic science
Fantastically Wrong: What Darwin Really Screwed Up About Evolution
It’s hard to overstate just how brilliant and huge an idea Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was and continues to be. It absolutely rocked Victorian England, to the extent that stuffy old Victorian England could be rocked past people just barely raising their voices in polite protest. But some folks, particularly highly \[…\]
Speculations on the Future of the Scientific Method
The following essay was published 20 years ago (January, 2006) on my blog The Technium. I edited the intro here, but the speculations are basically unchanged.
Guest post: If you’re going to critique science, be scientific about it
Loren K. Mell Editor’s note: This post responds to a Feb. 13 article in The Atlantic, “The Scientific Literature Can’t Save Us Now,” written by Retraction Watch cofounders Adam Marcus and Ivan Oran…
Decolonising Science Reading List
In the last couple of weeks, a lot of people have been asking me about what I’ve been reading as reference points for my commentary on the…
The Scientist Who Scrambled Darwin’s Tree of Life (Published 2018)
How the microbiologist Carl Woese fundamentally changed the way we think about evolution and the origins of life.
The Coming Second Copernican Revolution | NOEMA
Astrobiology is rewiring our understanding of the intimate connection between life and planets as they appear in the universe.
The End of Science? Agnosis and American Fascism
The Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) annually awards the John Desmond Bernal Prize to one or more individuals who have made distinguished contributions to the field of Science and Technology Studies. Past winners have included founders of the field, along with outstanding scholars who have devoted their careers to understanding the social dimensions of science and technology. This article is the revised text of the 2025 Bernal Lecture by Paul Edwards.
Without a theory of intelligence
The history of science — and of progress — is a series of benefits that are direct results of new tools.
Where Should Science Go Next
Where Should Science Go Next? Prashant Garg, April 2026 Every researcher has to choose what to work on next. Science has formal procedures for judging answers, but no comparable procedure for comparing questions. Einstein said in 1918 at Max Planck's sixtieth birthday: "There is no logical path t...
"what if engineering a scientific revolution is, at least in part, a problem of organizing humans and coordinating effort?" uniconq.substack.com/p/the-ground-truth-institute h/t @ranganaut.bsky.social
The Ground Truth Institute
uniconq.substack.com