Optimistical: A World View from Science

Optimistical: A World View from Science (tentative title) is a book that highlights the often overlooked value of optimism in the pursuit of science and the ways that science brings optimism to a culture. How does science maintain a childlike curiosity paired with a mature skepticism, a youthful sense of wonder and awe with the realities of failed experiments, a belief in progress with the recognition of vast ignorance and mystery? The book extends the project of my two earlier books, Ignorance and Failure, to bring to readers a sense of the inner workings of science and the essential dynamics that make it successful – beyond the mere accumulation of facts. This book will require researching in the history and philosophy of science and in its early beginnings that arose in Age of Discovery, the Reformation, the Renaissance early Puritanism, and continued through the Enlightenment and the Romantic Era to the contemporary "globalized" world. Science has the power to bring an optimistic outlook to society. Around the world and through history it can be seen that societies with a strong scientific effort are optimistic – they believe in progress and in change, they are devoted to freedom of thought and expression. Recognizing this as perhaps the most important contribution of science is critical in our modern world. The project will produce a completed book manuscript in approximately one year.