ONE MAN'S VIEW OF SCIENCE

One scientist, Franklin M. Harold, gave an interesting view of science in the Epilogue of his book, The Way of the Cell*. I would like to quote him: "I have come to think of science as a kind of game, whose object is to make sense of the world. Players are bound by strict rules: the imagination must ever be disciplined by reason, observation and experiment, and no cheating, please! It is the most engrossing game ever invented, one to which I and many others have happily dedicated our lives; and it has revealed much that is new, true and important. But we must never forget that the game of science is played on a board, and most of what matters most to human beings lies off the board. Science has little useful to say about good and evil, right and wrong, justice and oppression, and the strange ways of the human heart. Science can often explain what is happening, and it can sometimes forecast the future and distinguish wisdom from folly. But it provides no basis for ethical choice, nor the will to act. About what it means to be human, individual scientists often hold strong opinions; but science must be silent."

*Oxford University Press, New York, 2001