The Value of Science: Essential Writings of Henri Poincare (Modern Library Science)

We are in 1905, Poincaré just synthesized the value of science in one stunning sentence "If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living". Priceless! And there is much more. He was following closely the recent developments in both mathematics and physics. Even stating that mechanics was approaching a revolution. Quite right, theory of relativity was published in 1916. He also listed the difficulties of Hilbert-Russell-Whitehead trying to put mathematics on solid foundations. A "fruitless" effort that converged to Gödel's incompleteness theorems in 1931. Astronomy is also discussed. This book is long but Poincaré is sharp and thrilling, you may even have goosebumps sometimes.

It's well translated but it is a copied or scanned version of an actual book owned by someone. Those two photos were taken right after I opened the package. Those marks are not written on pen or pencil. They are actually copied together with the book itself. It only gets worse. For later pages, you will see more of them.

How many books on science and math have you read and said: "I just couldn't put it down. It made me dwell on many of the things that I take for granted and it challenged or even changed some of my views"? I cannot think of many, but this comes immediately to mind as do some of Mr. Gould's books. Although not an elementary or introductory text (from a 21st century perspective) of the scientific method, it is a very eloquent discourse in the pitfalls of its application (or mis-application).

Some historical figures are known to all cultured persons. LeoTolstoy, Johannes Brahms, Vincent Van Gogh -- these are names ofwhich most of us would be embarrassed to be ignorant. On theother hand, few of us would think to add the name of Jules HenriPoincare to this list; and yet, if we did, it would tower overall the rest. For Poincare was a mathematician of the veryhighest rank, an astonishingly fertile creative genius whoseprescient insight and technical mastery utterly transformed theart to which he devoted his life. Among his predecessors in thethree-thousand-year history of mathematics, only Archimedes,Newton, Euler, and Gauss can be said to have equalled orexceeded him. By any standard, Poincare was one of the trulygreat.If for no other reason than this, THE VALUE OF SCIENCE is wellworth reading. It is, after all, quite rare to find a book thatcollects the thoughts of one of the very few genuinely profoundintellects in human history. But what makes THE VALUE OFSCIENCE truly wonderful is that it is not merely worth reading:it is, in fact, a joy to read. For in addition to his uncannymathematical gifts, Poincare had the knack of expressinghimself beautifully in writing. Even in translation, his prosehas an admirable lucidity and grace, and his aphoristic styleoften makes him highly quotable. When he speaks of mathematicalcreation, as he does in a celebrated essay of that name, heoffers general readers a fascinating glimpse into the depthsof his own extraordinary mind at the peak of its imaginativefrenzy; his (scrupulously non-technical) account of one of hisgreatest mathematical discoveries supplies an unforgettableintellectual thrill, a sort of electric shock for the soul. Foranyone interested in the psychology of creation, this is simplyirresistible stuff.A final brief caveat: although Poincare was clearly the greatestmathematician of his time, he was not the greatest physicist. Acurious wrong-headedness kept him from beating Albert Einsteinto the creation of special relativity, and general relativityeventually proved Poincare wrong in some of his opinions on therelation between physics and geometry. So when Poincare speaksof physics, bear in mind that some of his positions no longerseem really tenable.But this is no reason not to read every word of THE VALUE OFSCIENCE. It's a marvelous book, and its author was a marvelousman. Get to know them both. You'll be glad you did.

There are two kinds of people in the world: fans of Poincare's writings, and those who have never read his writings.Each of us fans have our favorite, and for me it is Science and Method. But no matter which of his books you connect with, it will become an addiction.After a few chapters you will find a sentence which you have seen before, and it is because Poincare is often quoted, but rarely cited. While these writings are over 100 years old, the questions he asks of himself and the reader are just as relevent today. In Science and Method he makes the argument that science for the sake of science has more value than science for the sake of business. And that even research which disproves a hypothesis has value, because the process of the scientific method will in itself yield a benefit they may not be apparent at the time.And the really profound part is that discovery simply for the sake of commerce has very little benefit on society as a whole, since it is not shared with other researchers.I am doing a poor job of paraphrasing, but you get the point.His writing style is an easy read even today.Well worth the price.

As other reviewers have written, Henri Poincaré was one of the truly great geniuses that mankind produced. Besides being one of the greatest mathematicians of all time he was also a gifted writer and science popularizer, like Carl Sagan seven decades later. Here we can find something of what Poincaré wrote for the general (albeit educated) public. The texts are one century old and much of the subject matter is outdated, but the essence, what really matters, is still there as valid today as it was when Poincaré put it in words. Great book by a great and deep thinker.

The print quality is horrible. It is not the original book. It is just a print out of a bad online version. Certainly not worth the price.