If science is neither cookery, nor angelic virtuosity, then what is it? Modern societies have tended to take science for granted as a way of knowing, ordering, and controlling the world, where everything was subject to science, but science itself has largely escaped scrutiny. In this fascinating collection of interviews, CBC Radio's Ideas producer David Cayley talks to some of the world's most provocative thinkers about how the ideas of science have directed human thought and shaped human society. Contributors include: Steven Shapin, Simon Schaffer, Margaret Lock, Arthur Zajonc, Rupert Sheldrake, Sajay Samuel, Richard Lewontin, Ruth Hubbard, Ulrich Beck, David Abram, and many others.

Bernie Lucht has been the executive producer of Ideas since 1984. He is also the executive producer of Tapestry, the Sunday afternoon program of religious and spiritual exploration. Born and raised in Montreal, he earned a BA from Concordia University in 1966. That same year, he joined the CBC as a producer for Radio-Canada International, and in 1969 went on to produce Cross-Country Checkup. Later that year, Lucht left for West Africa to work as a CUSO volunteer teacher in rural Nigeria. He returned to Canada in 1971, starting work as a production assistant at Ideas, then rising to become the program's executive producer in 1984. Under his direction, Ideas has won many national and international awards.

David Cayley's profile page

"For me, the power of the book is how editor David Cayley probes his guests, through his powerful questioning, to examine the fundamental nature of science and its role in history and modern society. I highly recommend this must read anthology of the world's leading thinkers on science Ideas on the Nature of Science edited by David Cayley. The ideas presented by the philosophers, historians, and practitioners of science will have a profound effect on how the reader views the role and nature of science in society. Indeed, the very myth of modernity, and of science as part of that concept, is called into serious question in several interviews."

<i>Business World</i>

"Illuminating. Topics range from exploring the vanishing northern cod to the Gaia theory of life on earth."

<i>The Chronicle-Herald</i>

"Cayley's entertaining, eclectic, challenging conversations unveil a rich ecology of how we think about the world and why it matters. These exhilarating adventures into the frontiers of the sciences left me with a sense of wonder, and of hope."

David Waltner-Toews

"What is really remarkable about science is its ability to create novelties. And these novelties are not just at the level of new discoveries and new theories; they involve whole new ways not only of understanding knowledge, but of getting knowledge and being a knower."

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

"A great introduction to science and technology studies. The thinkers and topics are impressive."

The Anthropo.scene

"The rich array of subjects and levels of discussion makes for fascinating reading. Ideas on the Nature of Science is an intellectual treat for anyone interested in exhilarating adventures into the frontiers of the sciences."

<i>Oceans Association</i>

"An important book on a vitally important topic. David Cayley's thoughtful conversations give us an intellectual GPS System. No one should go on a quest for understanding the enterprise of science without it."

Ursula Franklin