Making Truth

Theodore L. Brown is a professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he also served as director of the Beckman Institute, vice chancellor for research, and interim vice chancellor for academic affairs. He is the author of Energy and the Environment and a coauthor of Chemistry: The Central Science.

• Preface   ix1. Scientific Thought and Practice   12. Introduction to Metaphor   143. The Theory of Conceptual Metaphor   314. The Classical Atom   535. The Modern Atom   746. Molecular Models in Chemistry and Biology   1007. Protein Folding   1228. Cellular-Level Metaphors   1469. Global Warming   16010. Science's Metaphorical Foundations: The Social in Science   183Notes   197Index   211

"An interesting and important book . . . filled with insight about the way scientists think and work, a book that will generate an important dialogue about science and science education.”--Journal of Chemical Education "Making Truth is an engaging and well-written book about the importance of metaphor in science, intended for a wide audience."--Philosophy of Science "Brown has a fluid and accessible writing style, and whether or not you find his thesis convincing, Making Truth makes for thought-provoking and worthwhile reading."--The Nucleus “For anyone interested in the philosophy of science. Highly recommended.”--Choice "To sum up: Theodore L. Brown's book is excellent."--HYLE--International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry "Anyone with a serious interest in science must read this book. In it, Brown demonstrates that metaphorical thought is central in all branches of science, just as it is in everyday life and mathematics. Particles as waves, time as a spatial dimension, gravity as the curvature of space-time, ion channels, protein folding. All these crucial scientific metaphors--and many more--allow us to understand science in terms of our embodied experience, build comprehensible models, make predictions, and perform precise calculations."--George Lakoff, coauthor of Metaphors We Live By, Philosophy in the Flesh, and Where Mathematics Comes From “This is an important book. Scientists will find it thought-provoking, and science teachers will find it a gold mine. Indeed, this book could be transforming for science education at the elementary, high school, and introductory college level.”--Linda S. Wilson, president emerita of Radcliffe College and coauthor of Who Succeeds in Science? The Gender Dimension