It was written by American born British historian and philosopher of science Jerome Ravetz.

[2] Written in 2006 by one of the founding fathers[3] of Post-normal Science - the other being Silvio Funtowicz - its 142 pages cover several themes, in part synthesizing previous works such as Scientific Knowledge and Its Social Problems, The Merger of Knowledge with Power, and Uncertainty and Quality in Science for Policy (with Funtowicz), and introduces the ideas of Post-normal Science.

[2] The foreword was written by biochemist Tom Blundell, who approves of Ravetz' "direct and provocative" approach to describing science, inclusive of its self-destructive tendencies as well as of its hopes and promises.

[6] Ravetz's work has found use for teaching philosophy and ethics of science, e.g at the University of Copenhagen.

[7] The volume may help to develop the competencies that scientists need to perform ethically[8] in postnormal research, by developing the ability to identify issues that fit postnormal settings where "facts are uncertain, values in dispute, stakes high and decision urgent".