Promotional Information

"Societies today promote innovation and curiosity as tracks to the future--but if the quest for the new is unrestrained, what is to keep societies from careening off the rails? This is the dilemma explored in this brief but provocative meditation by Helga Nowotny, one of Europe's most distinguished and influential scholars. Imagine a tool that is at once a precise probe and a far-reaching map: it is this book."--Rosalind Williams, Program in Science, Technology, and Society, MIT -- Rosalind Williams "In this learned and wide-ranging meditation on the future, one of Europe'sleading scholars of science and society reflects on the complexities anduncertainties that surround today's dizzying technological innovations.Acknowledging the disorienting forces of change, Nowotny neverthelesspresents an eloquent, erudite argument for embracing the future in all itsambiguity. To those who worry about the pace of change, she counselscourage. Her message is as deeply humanistic as it is also optimistic:experiment with the new; do so with self-knowledge; revel in the openness ofthe imagination; be not afraid." --Sheila Jasanoff, Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies,Harvard Kennedy School -- Sheila Jasanoff "In this learned and wide-ranging meditation on the future, one of Europe's leading scholars of science and society reflects on the complexities and uncertainties that surround today's dizzying technological innovations. Acknowledging the disorienting forces of change, Nowotny nevertheless presents an eloquent, erudite argument for embracing the future in all its ambiguity. To those who worry about the pace of change, she counsels courage. Her message is as deeply humanistic as it is also optimistic: experiment with the new; do so with self-knowledge; revel in the openness of the imagination; be not afraid." Sheila Jasanoff , Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Harvard Kennedy School "Societies today promote innovation and curiosity as the track to the future but if the quest for the new is unrestrained, what is to keep societies from careening off the rails? This is the dilemma explored in this brief but provocative meditation by Helga Nowotny, one of Europe's most distinguished and influential scholars. Imagine a tool that is at once a precise probe and a far-reaching map: it is this book." Rosalind Williams , Program in Science, Technology, and Society, MIT

About the Author

Helga Nowotny is former President of the European Research Council and author of Insatiable Curiosity: Innovation in a Fragile Future (MIT Press) and other books.

Reviews

Helga Nowotny is not only la grande dame of science studies in Europe, she is also one of the most savvy and influential people in European research affairs.... It seems regrettable that this essay from a leading European science-policy figure has not been published in English.—Hubert S. Markl, Nature

With this slim volume, Nowotny invites us to contemplate 'innovation in a fragile future' and provides the means and occasion for doing so.... The invitation is timely, welcome, and consequential.—Science