Book Review: The Science Before Science — A Guide to Thinking in the 21st Century (Rizzi)
The Science Before Science: A Guide To Thinking In The 21st Century by Anthony Rizzi
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
This book is an epistemological nightmare. Rizzi asks the reader to take on radical and unfounded views, sometimes without even a loose explanation or logical construction beyond “That makes sense, right?”
Even though I disagree with nearly every tenet of Rizzi’s philosophy, I still would give it a respectable two or three star rating if it weren’t for:
- His obvious lack of a copyeditor;
- His entire disregard for even addressing other points of view;
- His attempt to tackle complex issues with a poorly developed philosophical toolbox; and, most importantly,
- His total lack of logical flow or structure beyond asking the reader to accept things on his authority.
Though no doubt a great physicist, Rizzi seems to have lost his notion of rigor in trying to invent a new realist approach to the philosophy of science. His biggest flaw, in my opinion, is in his confusion of the nature of words; he oftentimes seems to think that he can pull universal truth out of the English language.
Unfortunately for him, the English language is neither an authority on nature nor a system he’s totally mastered himself.
All in all, avoid this book — especially if you don’t have the scientific grounding to understand why it’s wrong on your own.
Does the term “principle of sufficient reason” mean anything to you?
Sergio
October 21, 2011 at 3:16 am