Science is not some purely rationalist endeavor that exists in an isolated realm of objective observations and hard data that can deliver absolute truths. It is built on and intertwined with the modes of analysis, intellectual history, and ways of knowing in the humanities.

0:00	Intro

2:19		Part 1 –– Metaphors We Live By

5:52		Part 2 –– Metaphors in Science, an Ancient Paradox

10:32	Part 3 –– Embryology

23:10	Part 4 –– The Clockwork Universe

32:04	Part 5 –– The History of a Dead Metaphor: Cell

44:00	Part 6 –– Black Holes

51:10	Part 7 –– The Body

57:50	Part 8 –– Pain, in 78 Adjectives

1:05:29	Part 9 –– Natural Selection

1:09:47	Part 10 –– A New Metaphor for Science

1:20:22	Part 11 –– The Solar System Model of the Atom

1:24:35	Part 12 –– Uniformitarianism

1:31:35	Part 13 –– Glia, the Gendering of a Cell

1:39:15	Part 14 –– Light Bulbs and Seeds

1:46:04	Part 15 –– War and Disease, the Domination of a Metaphor

1:51:26	Part 16 –– Social Darwinism

1:55:05	Part 17 –– The Universe

2:02:08	Part 18 –– Anthropomorphism


An Inexact Science is a production of The World According to Sound. It’s part of our series, “Ways of Knowing,” audio works dedicated to humanities research and thought. It was made in collaboration with the University of Chicago’s Institute on the Formation of Knowledge. 

Special thanks to Shadi Bartsch-Zimmer, who spearheaded the project at the University of Chicago. Editorial support from Hans Buetow. Academic advising by Andrew Hicks. Voicing work by Tina Antolini. Mathematical consultant, Steven Strogatz. Intro music by our friends, Matmos. And to see a complete list of musicians used in this show, visit our website: www.theworldaccordingtosound.org

An Inexact Science

Ways of Knowing: An Inexact Science

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