The State of Science: What the Future Holds and the Scientists Making It Happen

by Marc Zimmer

Overview

New research and innovations in the field of science are leading to life-changing and world-altering discoveries like never before. What does the horizon of science look like? Who are the scientists that are making it happen? And, how are we to introduce these revolutions to a society in which a segment of the population has become more and more skeptical of science? Climate change is the biggest challenge facing our nation, and scientists are working on renewable energy sources, meat alternatives, and carbon dioxide sequestration. At the same time, climate change deniers and the politicization of funding threaten their work. CRISPR, (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) repurposes bacterial defense systems to edit genes, which can change the way we live, but also presents real ethical problems. Optogenetics will help neuroscientists map complicated neural circuitry deep inside the brain, shedding light on treating Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Zimmer also investigates phony science ranging from questionable “health” products to the fervent anti-vaccination movement. Zimmer introduces readers to the real people making these breakthroughs. Concluding with chapters on the rise of women in STEM fields, the importance of US immigration policies to science, and new, unorthodox ways of DIY science and crowdsource funding, The State of Science shows where science is, where it is heading, and the scientists who are at the forefront of progress.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633886407
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	07/20/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	618 KB

About the Author

Marc Zimmer is the Jean C. Tempel ’65 Professor of Chemistry at Connecticut College and the author of Glowing Genes, the first popular science book on jellyfish and firefly proteins; IlluminatingDiseases (Oxford University Press 2015); and three books for young adults. His writing has appeared in USA Today and the Los AngelesTimes, and he has been interviewed and quoted in the Economist,Science and Nature.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Science

1 The Big Picture 3

2 The Professional Scientist 13

3 Do-It-Yourself Science: Citizen Science, the Amateur Scientist, Biohacking, and SciArt 31

Part 2 Doing Science

4 The Nuts and Bolts 45

Part 3 Old Science

5 Recognizing a Breakthrough in Science: What Can We Learn from the Past? 61

Part 4 New Science

6 LIGO and Virgo: Measuring Gravitational Waves 1.3 Billion Light Years Away 75

7 Deep Learning 83

8 Optogenetics: Using Light to Turn on Neurons One at a Time 91

9 CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) 99

Part 5 Bad Science

10 This Is Not Science; It Is Fake Science 127

11 This Is Science, Not Politics 141

12 Quackery 161

Part 6 Future Science

13 Some Thoughts on Keeping Science Healthy in a Sustainable Future 177

Acknowledgments 189

Notes 193

Index 211

Editorial Reviews

"It is powerfully useful to see scientists beginning to engage crucial questions, such as how to regulate or even steer away from research in areas that are simply too powerful to easily coexist with humanity. The author starts a provocative conversation we should all engage in!" –Bill McKibben, author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?

“With the increasing assaults on the practice of science, the value of basic research and evidence-based medicine, Marc Zimmer's book could not be more timely. In The State of Science, Zimmer masterfully explains how and why science is done and shows us where it is going. Written with effortless authority and great clarity, Zimmer's book is highly recommended.” —Kevin Davies, executive editor of The CRISPR Journal and founding editor of Nature Genetics.

“Marc Zimmer provides a timely and broad discussion of science — its practice, its products, and its practitioners — that clearly presents the complexity of scientific enterprise for a general audience. I recommend The State of Science not just for students, but for all citizens looking to be informed on critical issues of the day.” —Sean M. Decatur, chemist and president of Kenyon College

"Zimmer has succeeded in writing a book that is engaging, scholarly, and exceptionally timely. The State of Science makes a compelling case for the importance of science, especially in times when politically undesirable observations can quickly be labeled ‘fake news’. It then maps the trajectory of science as a whole, including how emerging areas such as do-it-yourself science are poised to shape the landscape of the scientific endeavor. Zimmer deftly covers increasingly important technologies including artificial intelligence, gene editing, and optogenetics, leaving readers with a clear sense of how these tools will impact biology and medicine. This book will captivate readers across the scientific spectrum, and I strongly recommend it." –Rita Strack, Ph.D., Senior editor, Nature Methods

“In his new book “The State of Science,” Zimmer takes on a new challenge by summarizing what modern science is and how it works. Zimmer provides us with a brilliant book that reads like a thriller.” Friedrich Frischknecht Bioessays  

  “This may be a quick read, but it is hard-hitting and impactful. Informative for both scientists and non-experts alike, this is a terrific and timely book for anybody with even a passing interest in the world around us.”Madhura Mukhopadhyay News and Opinions from the editors, Nature Methods

From the Publisher

The book succeeds in being an informative and provocative view of one scientist’s view of the almost current state of much of science.

The Quarterly Review Of Biology