Association of science and technology professionals
This article is about the U.S.-based science and technology think tank and website. For the UK organisation, see
Edge (educational foundation). For the educational support organization for women, see
EDGE Foundation.
The Edge Foundation, Inc. is an association of science and technology intellectuals created in 1988 as an outgrowth of
The Reality Club. Its main activities are reflected on the edge.org website, edited by publisher and businessman
John Brockman. The site is a critically noted[1][2][3]online magazine exploring
scientific and
intellectual ideas.
Edge.org
A long-running feature on Edge is the Annual Question, which gathers many short essays on topical questions from Brockman's broad network of thought leaders in philosophy and science; these essays are usually published collectively as a book shortly thereafter.
Many of the feature articles on Edge are structured as video interviews with a prominent figure in some scientific field (such as
Daniel Kahneman or
Steven Pinker) discussing his or her recent research or mental preoccupations, in a free-flowing spiel from which the interviewer—often Brockman himself—is largely absent. This is usually accompanied by a full transcript which includes more material than the video portion (which is typically edited for brevity, down to less than an hour in length).
Because Brockman functions primarily as a literary agent, subjects featured on Edge are in most cases lucid communicators, even when relating new developments in highly specialized research areas. The lucid exposition of challenging and novel science is Edge's primary calling card.
Edge adds new content relatively infrequently, with no set schedule, apart from the Annual Question.
The Third Culture
The Third Culture is the growing movement towards reintegration of literary and scientific thinking and is a nod toward British scientist
C. P. Snow's concept of
the two cultures of science and the humanities.
John Brockman published a book of the same name whose themes are continued at the Edge website. Here, scientists and others are invited to contribute their thoughts in a manner readily accessible to non-specialist readers. In doing so, leading thinkers are able to communicate directly with each other and the public without the intervention of middlemen such as journalists and journal editors.[4]
Carl Zimmer was also a former contributor but asked for his content to be removed after learning of the role of
Jeffrey Epstein as a
supporter of the foundation.[33]
^What to think about machines that think : today's leading thinkers on the age of machine intelligence. Brockman, John, 1941- (First ed.). New York. 6 October 2015.
ISBN9780062425652.
OCLC922877862.{{
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^Know this : today's most interesting and important scientific ideas, discoveries, and developments. Brockman, John, 1941- (First ed.). New York, NY. 7 February 2017.
ISBN9780062562067.
OCLC964787935.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link) CS1 maint: others (
link)