Review by Choice Review
Dovring, a retired professor of agricultural economics, here muses on scientific knowledge and its limitations in some 100 loosely connected essays. Much is discussed under his theme: "most people . . . have had their vision of reality limited by specific instruments of knowledge . . . " and "Against the persistent simplistic and mechanistic view that has dominated much of recent science, we now have powerful special tools [including] chaos theory, the recognition of 'qualia' . . . and synergisms." The critique surrounds "an attempt to show how reality can be understood as mind--a revival of the concept logos . . . ." Unfortunately, Dovring is an amateur in the sciences from which he derives his critique and agendas, and hence suffers from many of the perils of autodidacticism, particularly in drawing (sophisticated) ideas out of their heuristic context and taking their propositions literally (thus confusing, for instance, light and heat "radiation"). However, this book is somewhat redeemed by a lack of paranoia often associated with similar works, an assertive reserve (things "may be" as he imagines), an interesting breadth of academic sources, and a charming Swedish-accented prose style. Though of less academic interest to philosophers or scientists, were the essays attributed to a character in a work of fiction (as do, say, Thomas Mann or Robert Pirsig), one suspects readers would find the character a wise eccentric, and his unorthodox points of view thought-provoking. General readers; undergraduates. P. D. Skiff; Bard College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
