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Great Books Reading and Discussion Group with Tom

“The Value of Science,” by Henri Poincaré (1854-1912)

Please join us to discuss “The Value of Science,” by Henri Poincaré (1854-1912).

A dynamic liberal arts education for free at the people’s university, the public library! Now in its seventeenth year, our group meets once a month to discuss timeless classics of literature and philosophy from a reading list chosen by the Chicago-based Great Books Foundation. Pick up a copy of Great Conversations 1 at the first-floor Customer Services desk for a materials fee of $10.  For more information, email Tom Cohn at: tom_cohn@huntlib.org or call 631-427-5165 ext. 270 and check out our blog at hplgreatbooks.blogspot.com.  Registration is required to receive Zoom sign-in by email. 

Please join us to discuss The Value of Science, by Henri Poincaré (1854-1912). Henri Poincaré was a great French mathematician who penned popular works exploring the meaning and relationship of mathematics and natural science. Our selection this month, part of a larger work of the same name, starts with a challenge to Count Leo Tolstoy, who asserted that “science for its own sake” is an “absurd conception.”  It ends with a case study of the value of the science of astronomy. Poincaré concludes that “Thought is only a gleam in the midst of a long night. But it is that gleam which is everything.” 

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