cover image Uncommon Sense: The Heretical Nature of Science

Uncommon Sense: The Heretical Nature of Science

Alan H. Cromer. Oxford University Press, USA, $27.5 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-19-508213-5

Science is ``heretical,'' according to Northeastern University physics professor Cromer, because its essence--objectivity--defies primitive human egocentrism. He suggests that objectivity is a very uncommon kind of thinking that evolved only in ancient Greece. Many countries established astrological systems, he points out, but only Greece produced solid geometry and number theory. Cromer nails his thesis against the doors of what he perceives as the current orthodoxies of New Age romanticism, political correctness and multiculturalism, reiterating his view that the core of scientifc thinking was a uniquely Western discovery and not a natural development latent in all evolving civilizations. He believes that this ``uncommon sense'' is easily overwhelmed by the persistent infantile appeal of such ``magical'' explanations of our observed world as UFOs, the paranormal and crystal channelings. Cromer and colleagues have conceived a science curriculum called SEED (Science Education Experiments & Demonstrations) for students and teachers in the middle school grades which is worthy of consideration by all educators. Illustrations. (Sept.)