A Tale of Two Sciences: Memoirs of a Dissident Scientist - Paperback

by Peter A. Sturrock Ph. D. (Author)

A TALE OF TWO SCIENCES: Memoirs of a Dissident Scientist is one scientist's reflection on a successful sixty-year career. Professor Sturrock has trod an unusual path, combining a variety of innovative research in mainstream science with another variety of studies well outside the mainstream. Although most scientists look with a jaundiced eye on topics such as parapsychology and UFO research, he views them simply as more grist for the scientific mill, regarding topics outside the mainstream as major challenges rather than minor annoyances best swept under the rug. A Tale of Two Sciences has three sections: The first reviews the author's conventional research. The second reviews his unconventional research. The third presents his speculations on how these two presently distinct ventures might be reconciled, to their mutual advantage. With a clear and simple style-and occasional humor-Sturrock presents both scientists and nonscientists with a refreshingly open and unprejudiced perspective on science. He shows that scientific thinking can be applied to a wide range of topics- unconventional as well as conventional-and even to topics that are normally considered beyond the purview of science, such as the Shakespeare authorship question.

Author Biography

Peter A. Sturrock is emeritus Professor of Applied Physics and emeritus Director of the Center for Space Science and Astrophysics at Stanford University. He has received numerous awards, including prizes from the American Astronomical Society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Cambridge University, the Gravity Foundation, and the National Academy of Sciences. His other publications include five edited volumes, three monographs, and three hundred articles and reports.