From a Scientific Point of View: Reasoning and Evidence Beat Improvisation across Fields

This book deals with the scientific viewpoint, which is illustrated here through a number of topical cases in modern science, from gravitational waves to mental disorders to social policies. The scientific perspective involves rationality, realism, and reism - the thesis that the universe is composed of concrete things like atoms, force fields, people, and social organizations. The book shows that the scientific worldview underlies all current scientific and technological research projects. It also claims that any subject involving knowledge can be approached scientifically, and contends that the scientific viewpoint can trump both dogma and improvisation - the standbys of amateurs and demagogues.