Galileo's Dream

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Galileo's Dream shows two main things about science, and both have to do with science as a weak force.

The first weakness is the fact that science still hasn't grasped reality in full. The book is a call for epistemic humility, and, while a love song to reality and trying to understand reality with our senses and our rational powers, it is also a love song to the ultimate mystery & unknowability of reality.

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The second weakness is science's inadequacy to deal with power and politics.

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So indeed, science is no miracle worker, and this novel isn't perfect either. At times it drags a bit, and its quirkiness won't be for everyone. But again Robinson shows to be a humanist, writing insightful about characters and reality and feelings and history and being alive. Even though "consciousness is solitary", via his books -- truly a coherent oeuvre if ever there was one -- Robinson manages time and time again to share something of real value.

Full review on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It