Reliable Knowledge

A British thereotical physicist and philosopher of science, John Ziman was educated in New Zealand and at Balliol College, Oxford University. He has taught at several British universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, the University of Bristol, and the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London (Science Policy Support Group). Throughout his career, Ziman has been involved primarily with the social dimensions of science. He was an early interdisciplinary researcher who not only studied the effects of science on society, but also examined the social aspects of science. While at the University of Bristol, Ziman developed a course on the social relations of science and technology. He was also an early member of a "leftist" group of scientists who established the Society for Social Responsibility in Science. Ziman is well known for a series of lucid books on the nature of science. His An Introduction to Science Studies (1985) is regarded as one of the best overviews and presentations of science/technology/> society studies. This and other works have earned him a reputation as the best British interpreter of science for college students---comparable to Gerald Holton of the United States. An active member of the Council for Science and Society, Ziman remains an influential supporter of the formulation of a social model of science for use by science educators. 020