Wang Yi-chia combines a science background--having majored in medicine--with a deep concern for human affairs. As soon as I opened the book, the table of contents enticed my attention. The titles of the essays and their kickers are at once coolly rational and engagingly compelling: "Another Hypnotism--Having Third Thoughts About Science and Freedom"; "Accidence and Certainty--God and Man Shoot Craps"; "The Grumbling Gene--Thoughts on the History of Algeny," "Nuclear Energy Knocks for the Fourth Time--People's Concerns and Decisions about Technology." The topics truly reflect the state of current technological culture.

A balance:

These 18 essays reveal the writer's balanced concern for science and humanity. Originally published in a magazine column entitled "Science and Man," they probe a scientific culture found both on the high plane of theory and in every day life.

From reading this book, scientists may come to feel that "scientific mysophobia" saps the energy out of science, whereas the general intellectual population might discover themselves adopting a scientific humanism that dispels their Frankensteinian fears, revealing a blend of the human and natural orders. The ways of heaven are revealed through the ways of men, and people discuss the natural state of things to put their own affairs in order. Otherwise, how muddled things would be.

I too have a background in science and like the author have been sidetracked, working in the humanities (I study the history of scientific thought). The writer's omnipresent fervor for culture has won my sympathy and praise. And I applaud this statement of his: "Science is in the lifeblood of culture, inextricably linked to culture's other components. They stew in each other's juices. One and all crystallizations of human creativity, they are refined through comparison and discussion. One shouldn't exaggerate the skills of science--regarding what is outside its purview as secondary knowledge. But science and technology have brought great opportunities for freedom and choice. And these choices--good or ill--have transformed the face of the world and the lives of people."

Thus the writer views science and technology from a broader cultural perspective. For example, here are his ideas on scientists who add to scientific theory as compared to those who create technology: Scientist philosophers like Einstein used pure thought more than natural observation. This was a manifestation of Jewish culture. Creative entrepreneurs like Edison spent their efforts on things they could observe. This was a manifestation of Protestant ethics.

Don't forget concern for the homeland:

He also considers creativity in the history of Eastern and Western science from a cultural angle. Regarding that old question, "Why didn't Westerners discover acupuncture and why didn't Chinese discover chloroform?" he answers, "The cultural orientations of a civilization determine the realm within which its people can make discoveries." The writer points out that Western culture, which is oriented toward encroachment, puts patients under before an operation, whereas Chinese culture, which is oriented toward harmony, adopts a method of anesthesia wherein the patient still maintains consciousness.

Of course this kind of cultural summarizing is glib and dangerous, and it easily ignites controversy. Nonetheless, the writer does have an undeniable flair for revealing the various layers of cultural thought.

In addition, the writer examines general theories and some of the ancient questions that science today is still tackling, such as chance and certainty, free will and determinism, science and voodoo, etc. He also discusses some of the major scientific developments of the age, such as Thomas Kuhn's views on historical paradigms and the meaning of dreams.

On the topics of chance and certainty and free will and determinism, he starts off by looking at quantum theory in physics, pointing out that the certainty of things in the big picture is built on the accidence of each individual thing happening. This is not only operationally accidental -- it is intrinsically accidental. The certainty of things in the big picture awakens people to the truth that they can't say about everything, "As long as I so desire, nothing is off limits." Chance, on the other hand, provides people with hope: Since the nature of an individual thing cannot be predicted, one must rely entirely upon one's efforts.

Science attacks voodoo?

From here, he also shows that evolution is the product of the interplay between sudden chance and strict certainty. For example, some deer's necks suddenly became long allowing them to eat the leaves on the top of the trees. Occurring in an environment where the lower branches have no leaves, the result is that the long-necked deer thrive and the short-necked deer are eliminated. In Lamark's theory, what is used is improved and what is not is eliminated, and so the result leads the cause: The neck grows long to eat the leaves off the tree. This discussion provides even more food for thought in understanding what is accidental genetic mutation and what is certain natural selection.

As for science and voodoo, the writer clearly sees that as opposed to the coldness of science, "Voodoo at least provides opportunities for concern and participation." Voodoo ceremonies may be fake science but they are not childish because they emphasize an integration and harmony with nature, and this is what we are gradually losing day by day.

Kuhn's views on the history of scientific paradigms emphasize how a paradigm in its normal state rejects what is abnormal and how paradigms are mutually exclusive. The writer, on the other hand, emphasizes the process of understanding the "normal" from the "abnormal." When facing the seduction of the abnormal, don't fear what is messy. Curiosity should prevail over resistance. On this point I am in agreement with him. Because science is always changing, today we are finding new ways of doing things from old theories and scientists and the general intellectual public are showing more curiosity than resistance to new and varied phenomena.

Dreams are an extremely interesting phenomenon about which many people have shown an interest. Besides Freud's theory of the subconscious, there is also "the theory that dreams are reprogramming one's personality" This shows his concern for the state of modern science and technology. In a similar vein, he discusses algeny, genetic engineering. Quoting widely and extensively, he launches a direct attack on people's interest.

Deep and interesting:

He is also interesting when making some cross-cultural juxtapositions, such as in asserting that pathologic massage and the Western interest in cloning people are both "reflections of holism" or by contrasting the state of Western-style psychiatric institutions with the difficult situation surrounding Longfatang, a temple asylum. He wants our scientists to do more than just copy Western science. At the very least, he hopes that they will act on their own initiative on matters of local concern. Then perhaps they can advance to being creative and original.

Yet there are a few points where I disagree with the writer's opinions. For instance, he says that scientists are oriented away from people toward objects, giving as examples Einstein's and Edison's aloofness. In fact, they were only transferring a drive to explore from people to the natural order. Major scientists have considerable concern for humanity. Otherwise, why did Einstein take a stand against the bomb and make calls for peace? And throughout his life, Edison wanted his inventions to benefit man.

All in all, the writer is serving as a go-between on scientific matters, spotlighting the humanity in science. He succeeds in the difficult task of finding the common element in disparate phenomena and in making it all so very interesting.

Let me close with his marvelous metaphor of a fishing net, "What kind of fish you catch depends on what kind of net you use. But regardless of the net, there will always be some fish left uncaught. In the vast universe of the sea, scientists are like fishermen, using all of the scientific methods and knowledge they know to weave a fishing net. When they don't catch the legendary fish, there are only two possibilities: there isn't this kind of fish or there's a problem with the net."

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Author: Wang Yi-chia

Publisher: Wild Gooes

Price: NT$150

Pages: 251