Philip Ball on the Interplay of Science, Society, and the Quest for Understanding
Conversations with Tyler
Conversations with Tyler
4.8 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 4 September 2024
⏱️ 72 minutes
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Summary
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Philip Ball is an award-winning science writer who has penned over 30 books on a dizzying variety of subjects. Holding degrees in chemistry from Oxford and physics from the University of Bristol, Ball's multidisciplinary background underpins his versatility. As a former editor at Nature for two decades and a regular contributor to a range of publications and broadcast outlets, Ball's work exemplifies the rare combination of scientific depth and accessibility, cementing his reputation as a premier science communicator.
Tyler and Philip discuss how well scientists have stood up to power historically, the problematic pressures scientists feel within academia today, artificial wombs and the fertility crisis, the price of invisibility, the terrifying nature of outer space and Gothic cathedrals, the role Christianity played in the Scientific Revolution, what current myths may stick around forever, whether cells can be thought of as doing computation, the limitations of The Selfish Gene, whether the free energy principle can be usefully applied, the problem of microplastics gathering in testicles and other places, progress in science, his favorite science fiction, how to follow in his footsteps, and more.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.
Recorded May 22nd, 2024.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey listeners, this is Dallas, one of the producers of conversations with Tyler. |
| 0:08.0 | We'll be hosting a listener meet-up in Los Angeles on October 16th from 6 to 8 p.m. at the home of a fellow |
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| 0:18.5 | Q&A, mingle with other CWD fans, and chat with me and other members of the team. If you'd like to attend, please |
| 0:25.3 | register via the link at the top of the show notes. Guests and plus ones are always |
| 0:29.3 | welcome, just have them register at the link. We're really looking forward to seeing you there. |
| 0:34.0 | Now on to the show. |
| 0:36.0 | Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercadis Center at George Mason University, |
| 0:45.2 | bridging the gap between academic ideas and real world problems. |
| 0:49.2 | Learn more at Mercadis.org. |
| 0:52.0 | For a full transcript of every conversation enhanced with helpful links, |
| 0:56.2 | visit Conversations with Tyler.com. |
| 1:02.4 | Hello everyone and welcome back to Conversations with Tyler. Today I'll be |
| 1:07.3 | chatting with Philip Ball. I think of Philip this way. I mean we've had over 200 |
| 1:12.2 | guests, Conversations with Tyler and I think |
| 1:15.2 | three of them so far have shown they are able to answer any question I might |
| 1:19.9 | plausibly throw their way. Philip, I believe, is number four. |
| 1:24.6 | He is a scientist with degrees in chemistry and physics. |
| 1:28.4 | He's written about 30 books on different sciences. |
| 1:31.8 | Both he and I have lost count. He was an editor at Nature for about |
| 1:36.4 | 20 years. His books cover such diverse topics as chemistry, physics, the history of experiments, social science, color, the elements, water, |
| 1:46.7 | water in China, chartra cathedral, music, and more, but most notably he has a new book out this year a major work called How Life Works, a |
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