Michael D. Gordin’s book “On the Fringe: Where Science Meets Pseudoscience” will be the Princeton Pre-read for the incoming Class of 2029.
‘On the Fringe’ by Dean of the College Michael D. Gordin named Princeton Pre-read
Dean of the College Michael D. Gordin’s book “On the Fringe: Where Science Meets Pseudoscience” has been named the Princeton Pre-read for the Class of 2029. The book, which uses history and philosophy to explore how to distinguish science from pseudoscience, grew out of a longtime class taught by Gordin.
President Christopher L. Eisgruber said he selected “On the Fringe” as the Pre-read principally because it “invites conversation about the purposes of the liberal arts curriculum that awaits students at Princeton.”
Eisgruber noted that Princeton and other universities distinguish not only between science and pseudoscience, but, more broadly, between what is “scholarly” and what is not. “Thinking about how and why we draw these distinctions will help students to benefit fully from their time studying here,” he said.
“The Pre-read is one of many traditions you will encounter at Princeton and is part of a series of activities that will introduce you to the scholarly and communal life of the University,” Eisgruber wrote to incoming students in a foreword to the Pre-read edition of the book. He encouraged incoming students to think deeply about the questions the book raises and prepare to discuss them thoughtfully once they arrive on campus.
Gordin, the Rosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, is an expert on the history of science. His other books include “Einstein in Bohemia,” “Scientific Babel: How Science Was Done Before and After Global English,” “A Well-Ordered Thing: Dmitrii Mendeleev and the Shadow of the Periodic Table” and “Five Days in August: How World War II Became a Nuclear War.”
As dean of the college, Gordin oversees the University’s undergraduate curriculum, residential college system, and other programs and resources designed to promote the intellectual development of undergraduates.
He said “On the Fringe” evolved from his graduate seminar and undergraduate course that traced the history of pseudoscience. The book explores the historical development of science over six centuries through the perspective of doctrines, theories and claims that have been deemed as “fringe” by the scientific establishment, including some like astrology that have been discredited and others like continental drift theory that are now accepted science.
“The main point of the book is not simply to learn more about these many doctrines that have been excluded from the scientific mainstream, but to think about the process by which scientists and society decide what is legitimate and illegitimate knowledge. It is about how we manage disagreement while trying to find the truth,” Gordin said. “My hope is that in vigorous discussion of such questions students will experience the core of what the liberal arts at Princeton are about.”
After reading “On the Fringe,” incoming students will discuss the book with Eisgruber and Gordin at the Pre-read Assembly during Orientation. In the fall, students will also participate in small group conversations in the residential colleges to further explore issues raised by the book.
Copies of “On the Fringe,” published in 2021 by Oxford University Press, will be sent this summer to students enrolled in the Class of 2029.
More information about the Pre-read tradition, which was started by President Eisgruber in 2013, can be found on the Pre-read website. A list of previous Pre-read books follows.
2013 — “The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen,” by Kwame Anthony Appiah
2014 — “Meaning in Life and Why It Matters,” by Susan Wolf
2015 — “Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do,” by Claude Steele
2016 — “Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality,” by Danielle Allen
2017 — “What Is Populism?” by Jan-Werner Müller
2018 — “Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech,” by Keith Whittington
2019 — “Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy,” by James Williams
2020 — “This America: The Case for the Nation,” by Jill Lepore
2021 — “Moving Up Without Losing Your Way: The Ethical Costs of Upward Mobility,” by Jennifer Morton
2022 — “Every Day the River Changes: Four Weeks Down the Magdalena,” by Jordan Salama
2023 — “How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future,” by Maria Ressa
2024 — “The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI,” by Fei-Fei Li