Making Sense of Life by Evelyn Fox Keller, Harvard University Press, $29.95/£19.95, ISBN 0674007468
THIS is a book that asks really big questions. What constitutes a scientific explanation? What do we mean when we say we “understand” a natural process?
Evelyn Fox Keller has the credentials to put such questions. A towering figure in the philosophy of science, a recipient of a coveted MacArthur Fellowship and a tireless champion of women in science, she had a successful career as a mathematician and physicist before moving into biology. She has experienced at first hand the shock of finding that explanations…
