Philip Ball is a freelance science writer. He worked previously at Nature for over 20 years, first as an editor for physical sciences (for which his brief extended from biochemistry to quantum physics and materials science) and then as a Consultant Editor. His writings on science for the popular press have covered topical issues ranging from cosmology to the future of molecular biology.
Philip is the author of many popular books on science, including works on the nature of water, pattern formation in the natural world, colour in art, the science of social and political philosophy, the cognition of music, and physics in Nazi Germany. He has written widely on the interactions between art and science, and has delivered lectures to scientific and general audiences at venues ranging from the Victoria and Albert Museum (London) to the NASA Ames Research Center, London's National Theatre and the London School of Economics.
Philip continues to write regularly for Nature. He has contributed to publications ranging from New Scientist to the New York Times, the Guardian, the Financial Times and New Statesman. He is a contributing editor of Prospect magazine (for which he writes a science blog), and also a columnist for Chemistry World, Nature Materials, and the Italian science magazine Sapere. He has broadcast on many occasions on radio and TV, and is a presenter of "Science Stories" on BBC Radio 4. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, sits on the editorial board of Chemistry World and Interdiscipinary Science Reviews, and is a board member of the RESOLV network on solvation science at the Ruhr University of Bochum.
Philip has a BA in Chemistry from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Physics from the University of Bristol.
Philip Ball is a writer. Most of his books are concerned with science in some form or another: its history, its interactions with the arts and society, its achievements, delights and detours. He is a regular columnist for several magazines and an occasional radio presenter and broadcaster. He was an editor of Nature for many years, and long ago, a chemist and physicist of sorts.
预知社会 pdf by Philip Ball
是否存在影响人类行为和组织方式的“自然法则”？在 17 世纪，托马斯·霍布斯厌倦了肆虐英格兰的内战，他决定要弄清楚一个稳定的社会需要什么样的政府。他的方法不是基于乌托邦式的一厢情愿，而是基于伽利略从第一原理构建政府理论的力学。他的解决方案对当今社会没有吸引力，但霍布斯在寻找社会“科学”规则时引发了一种思考人类行为的新方式。
亚当·斯密、伊曼纽尔·康德、奥古斯特·孔德和约翰·斯图尔特·密尔从不同的政治角度追求这个想法。然而，社会和政治哲学逐渐放弃了“科学”的方法。今天，物理学在社会、政治和经济科学领域正在复兴。鲍尔展示了当我们不再试图预测和分析个人行为，而是关注个人决定（无论是在合作还是冲突的情况下）对我们的法律、制度和习俗的影响时，我们对人类行为的理解有多大.
《临界质量》生动而引人入胜，是第一本将这些新思想融合在一起并展示它们如何适应更广泛的历史背景的书籍，即理性地寻找更好的生活方式。