What Remains to be Discovered Book

If there was nothing left to be discovered the whole science enterprise would grind to a halt and there is no sign of that. However, there does seem to be a significant waning in public confidence in the purpose and achievements of science. John Maddox, as ex-editor of Nature, the international science journal, is ideally placed to do a bit of "crystal- ball" gazing and read the future of science. Writing for the informed general reader, Maddox approaches his task with enthusiasm and considerable erudition. He introduces and reviews the discoveries and achievements of the main growth areas of science over the last few decades. Some predictable problems emerge, such as the origins of the universe, life and matter. These may raise as many problems as they solve. But there are others, such as the continuing mapping out of the genome of a range of organisms which should be relatively straightforward, provided the money is available. The results will however have extraordinary ramifications and possibilities. Inevitably, as Maddox admits, "many important fields are not touched" by this survey, such as the origin of the solar system and the driving mechanism of plate tectonics, which is fundamental to the formation of the Earth's crust and probably plays a significant role in other planets as well. But there is also the unexpected element to science which is part of its attraction and is virtually impossible to predict. Finally, Maddox aims and succeeds in showing that the "lode of discovery is far from worked out'. For anyone with an enquiring mind, this is an eminently readable, informed, and researched assessment of some of the future directions of science, backed up with notes and sources for further reading. It might be one man's view but few are better equipped than Maddox, who trained as a physicist and has been a professional science journalist and writer in Britain for most of his 40-year career.Read More