Barbarian science

From the Foreword, By Ken Hoffman:...In this wonderful little book, Jim McMurtray, astronomer, teacher and friend, conveys these and many other important ideas in a unique manner and style born of his own life's experience. A glance at the Table of Contents will tell you the enormous range of things touched upon:science literacy, science research, university science, school science, science teaching, and ancient science, plus a list of other topics that can best be described as "for all X, science and X". The variable X ranges from religion to art, economics, politics, engineering, the movies, and the press. Given the breadth and the brevity of the book, it could hardly be a philosophical treatise on any of the above. It wasn't intended to be. But it has quite insightful things to say in each of its commentaries. And that is not an easy thing to do. There are also a couple of "surprise" sections that we won't mention, because we don't want to spoil them for you.If that is what the book is about, what is it like? That's easy to answer: In a nutshell, this book is like Jim McMurtray himself. It is irreverent, at times heretical. It is insightful, at times wise. It islaced with wit and humor throughout. It has many serious things to say,yet it never takes itself too seriously. It shines spotlights on unattired emperors, especially those whom others see as fully clothed.