Additional information
by Alan Sokal (Author), Jean Bricmont (Author)
In 1996 physicist Alan Sokal published an essay in Social Text--an influential academic journal of cultural studies--touting the deep similarities between quantum gravitational theory and postmodern philosophy.
Soon thereafter, the essay was revealed as a brilliant parody, a catalog of nonsense written in the cutting-edge but impenetrable lingo of postmodern theorists. The event sparked a furious debate in academic circles and made the headlines of newspapers in the U.S. and abroad. In Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science, Sokal and his fellow physicist Jean Bricmont expand from where the hoax left off. In a delightfully witty and clear voice, the two thoughtfully and thoroughly dismantle the pseudo-scientific writings of some of the most fashionable French and American intellectuals. More generally, they challenge the widespread notion that scientific theories are mere "narrations" or social constructions.Author Biography
Alan Sokal is a professor of physics at New York University.
Jean Bricmont is a theoretical physicist with the Université de Louvaine in Belgium.
Number of Pages: 320
Dimensions: 0.84 x 8.28 x 5.55 IN
Publication Date: October 29, 1999
