Pere Estupinyà He is already a regular at Xataka Ciencia. Here we have reviewed his The Brain Thief either S=EX2: The Science of Sex. As we couldn't do otherwise, now it's the turn of their latest development: Living Science: The Passions Aroused by Knowledge.
A book that, once again, inspires the reader with extraordinary stories about science that allow, through the hook of curiosity, capture the largest pieces of knowledge.
In search of knowledge
Life is far from being very complicated, in reality. We just have to let ourselves be carried away by a negative feedback system: Once a target value has been determined, discrepancies from that value force the state to change until the discrepancy is reduced.
Living Science: The Passions Aroused by Knowledge (Science and Technology)
For example: I don't want to be hungry... I'm hungry... likeIt's such a basic system that all animals and plants are governed by it. So are thermostats and heat-seeking missiles.
But once we have satisfied hunger, and all the other things that are in the lower strata of the Maslow's pyramid, then our objective values tend toward matters that are more difficult to define. At the top of the pyramid is self-realization. One of the pillars of this self-realization could be knowledgeBut what is knowledge? Which knowledge is more important than others?
For Pere, science is undoubtedly one of the most important. And always tries to convey that idea with passion and dedication.. Living science is no exception. Something like an expanded translation of its science section on the radio program Let's live, it's only two days, from Cadena SER, Pere reveals to us in the first pages of the book what his criteria are when deciding to invest his time in a new scientific outreach project.
He sums it up under the acronym DRUI: Fun, Profitable, Useful and Interesting:
For example: if I'm invited to give a talk in northern Chile for which they don't pay me but they organize really cool trips to the Atacama Desert and on top of that I meet other speakers that I'd like to meet, I accept because it's D for fun.
And that is, in conclusion, what we can find in this book, as you can hear in this fragment that we have read:
All your criteria gathered in different chapters. Fun, profitable, useful, and interesting stories, as the book interviews and consults with all kinds of experts in neuroscience, astrophysics, biology, paleontology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, technology, the environment, and human health:
Grouped according to the emotions they evoke, we'll explore hope in the face of small medical miracles; introspection in exploring the human psyche; amusement in the face of the most absurd and entertaining topics; curiosity in revealing the most distant and invisible worlds; indignation at the resistance to harnessing scientific knowledge; concern about the climate crisis and the deterioration of the planet; inspiration to improve social aspects thanks to scientific discoveries; astonishment at seeing reality increasingly resemble fiction; and responsibility, because the future doesn't depend on technology but on us humans.
In short, we have here a book-shaped artifact that we can consider DRUI, in all its letters. The furthest thing from what Ray Bradbury described in Fahrenheit 451:
Let people participate in contests where they have to remember the words to the most popular songs, or the names of the state capitals, or how much corn Iowa harvested last year. Fill them with unflammable news. They'll feel overwhelmed by information, but they'll think they're intelligent. […] Don't give them slippery subjects, like philosophy or psychology, which breed melancholic men.
Naturally, Pere's book has also inspired us to write some entries in Xataka Science, such as Science has immovable foundations and is the closest thing to the truth without any burden of opinion or subjectivism..
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The news
Books that inspire us: 'Let's Live Science' by Pere Estupinyà
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.