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Ask HN: Books on how science works and how it is different from faith

by OnACoffeeBreak on 2/15/24, 2:45 PM with 3 comments

One of my very close friends is very religious and believes that Darwinism does not represent or explain reality because "it's just a theory". I am an atheist and look to science to explain things I don't understand. We have long discussions about religion and sometimes science, but ultimately he sees my predilection for science as something akin to his religious faith. I tried explaining what it means to have a theory or a model for natural phenomena, but he seems to brush those off as "not facts".

Can you recommend a book or a resource that explains the scientific method and addresses some of the common objections to it? Bonus points if it contrasts the scientific method to faith and belief.

To be clear, the book is for me. I want to be more articulate in my description of how and why science works.

  • by b_emery on 2/15/24, 3:06 PM

    I think the best reference for this, where I picked it up at least, is The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan. He investigates all sorts of things like alien encounters, goes into the history, etc. I think this is the book that made it all finally click for me, but it has been some time.

  • by robthebrew on 2/15/24, 4:28 PM

    I'm not sure it needs a whole book: a theory is backed by demonstrable fact. When there are facts that do not coincide with the theory, scientists find a new one to match all the acts. Faith, on the other hand requires no facts, just a belief that ones view is correct.