... Bryan Appleyard's Pop go the scientists .
" There is no logic that dictates that the science of Hawking and Dawkins should entail a loathing of religion, yet somehow, to these imperious imaginations, it did. Another big science writer, Lewis Wolpert, extended this antipathy to include philosophy, a discipline that, he insisted, had nothing to tell us. Such crude certainties are, of course, absurd, since good science is predicated on uncertainty, but it was essential to the marketing of these books." Indeed.
Have you read Lewis Wolpert's "Malignant Sadness", Frank? Its topic is depression. I could not be doing with all of it, but the review of what is known, scientifically, about depression is excellent.
ReplyDeleteWhatever one may think or write about Wolpert, he is a gentleman. I was editing one of his pieces for Nature at the time the above book was published. I mentioned to him on the phone that I was planning to read it, as a fellow-sufferer. He immediately sent me a copy. A generous man, indeed, and I can tell you, extremely well-read and knowledgeable on a huge range of topics, including classics and literature as well as science.
Anyone who wins your admiration and affection, Maxine, must be a first-rate fellow indeed. I have not read "Malignant Sadness," but I'll try to find it.
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