Taking on questions of scientific rationality, the social construction of scientific truth, and the authority and cultural biases of scientific practice, this reader offers arguments from both sides of the "science wars" that burst into public view with the hoax played by physicist Alan Sokal on the journal Social Text . The implications of that hoax are debated in the 13 writings presented by Parsons (philosophy, U. of Houston), as are such issues as feminist criticisms of objectivity, debates over the arbitrariness of the scientific method, and conservative attacks on science as a danger to religion. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)