Bernstein on Science and Scientists

     Jeremy Bernstein. Cranks, Quarks, and the Cosmos (1991) Bernstein wrote for The New Yorker and other magazines for many years. I liked his pieces then, and I like this compilation now. He’s a bit prissy, expressing doubt that “the merely personal” should be remarked in biographies of Schroeder, for example. Schroeder was a notorious womaniser. Bernstein’s modest about his insights into matters he doesn’t get, but very good at explaining what he knows. He’s a working physicist, and as such is careful to keep within his limits.
     He began his scientific career before the vastness of the Universe in space and time was understood. Cosmology was almost a fringe science, burdened with ignorance and poor data. It was the accidental discovery of the cosmic background radiation that shifted scientific opinion. This led to radio astronomy, and now the whole electromagnetic spectrum is exploited to make sense of what’s out there. Cosmology is a nice example of how better instruments lead to better data, and so not only lead to  confident insights, but also to answerable questions.
     His essays on the great physicists of the late 19th and early 20th century reminds one that quantum theory was accepted before there were good data to support it. It began with Planck’s quantised model of light. Now, its insights have become engineering principles.
     In one of his last pieces, Bernstein mentions global warming, and, touchingly, infers that we will change our way of life to avoid the worst effects. I think he would be appalled at the concentrated efforts to deny and distract from the threat.
     The compilation amounts to a history of science in the 20th century. Worth reading. ***