Jimena Canales – Science, Demons and Non-Existent Things
Tuesday, November 9, 2021Online discussion
7:30 pm CET
Discovery, either when considered as a process of uncovering or of creation, involves conjuring into existence the new. What does not or does not yet exist plays a predominant role in science and technology. What do scientists look for and how does their way of searching influence what they find? The antechamber of discovery is not, as is frequently thought, an inscrutable “private art” marked by a punctual “Eureka!” moment. It is a rich cultural, social, economic and political space where sought-after imaginary perpetrators--often referred to by scientists as demons--have recognizable characteristics that have remained fairly constant throughout many centuries. A study of the half-empty glass of scientific research reveals surprising patterns in the search agenda that has shaped modern science and technology.
Jimena Canales is an award-winning author and scholar focusing on the history of science in the modern world. She is currently a faculty member at the Graduate College at the University of Illinois-Urbana, Champaign. She was previously the Thomas M. Siebel Professor in the History of Science at the University of Illinois and an Associate Professor at Harvard University. Canales is the author of A Tenth of a Second: A History, The Physicist and The Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate That Changed Our Understanding of Time, Bedeviled: A Shadow History of Demons in Science, and Simply Einstein. Her books have been voted Top 10 Books about Time (The Guardian), Best Science Books for 2015 (Science Friday, NPR, Public Radio International and Brainpickings), Top Reads for 2015 (The Independent), and Books of the Year for 2016 (The Tablet).
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