{"product_id":"unsimple-truths-sandra-d-mitchell-9780226006628","title":"Unsimple Truths: Science, Complexity, and Policy","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe world is complex, but acknowledging its complexity requires an appreciation for the many roles context plays in shaping natural phenomena. In \u003ci\u003eUnsimple Truths, \u003c\/i\u003eSandra Mitchell argues that the long-standing scientific and philosophical deference to reductive explanations founded on simple universal laws, linear causal models, and predict-and-act strategies fails to accommodate the kinds of knowledge that many contemporary sciences are providing about the world. She advocates, instead, for a new understanding that represents the rich, variegated, interdependent fabric of many levels and kinds of explanation that are integrated with one another to ground effective prediction and action. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMitchell draws from diverse fields including psychiatry, social insect biology, and studies of climate change to defend \"integrative pluralism\"--a theory of scientific practices that makes sense of how many natural and social sciences represent the multi-level, multi-component, dynamic structures they study. She explains how we must, in light of the now-acknowledged complexity and contingency of biological and social systems, revise how we conceptualize the world, how we investigate the world, and how we act in the world. Ultimately \u003ci\u003eUnsimple Truths \u003c\/i\u003eargues that the very idea of what should count as legitimate science itself should change.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Sandra D. Mitchell\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 022600662X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226006628\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/21\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 160\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.45lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.50d","brand":"Sandra D. Mitchell","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43946333012223,"sku":"9780226006628","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_de2322e6-3fa8-439f-a5cf-230e585acb45.jpg?v=1681512568","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/unsimple-truths-sandra-d-mitchell-9780226006628","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}