Re: [Pen-l] in defense of science

[Jim Devine <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx>]

I quoted:
> ... Science is not a monument of received Truth but something that
> people do to look for truth.
>
> That endeavor, which has transformed the world in the last few
> centuries, does indeed teach values. Those values, among
> others,[include] indeed hunger for opposing points of view... nobody was
> ever sent to prison for espousing the wrong value for the Hubble constant.
> There is always room for more data to argue over....

Shane:
> But the fact is that the great astronomer Halton J. Arp has, for more than
> 15 years, been denied access to any telescope by the "International
> Astronomical Union." His crime? Denying that "redshift" indicates distance,
> and thus advocating a "wrong" (ie., zero) value for the "Hubble constant."**

That's a bit different from being thrown into jail, isn't it?

The NYT author is talking about the general _ideals_ of
"truth-seeking" in the scientific community. I'd bet that he would
would admit that many scientists are petty, back-biting, sectarian in
their attitudes, etc., and that science often does not live up to its
ideals.

The guy who thought up plate techtonics was initially treated as a
crank. There are a lot of examples of "fringe" science that later
become part of the mainstream, though (of course) there are many than
don't. See Henry Bauer's book on pseudoscience.
-- 
Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own
way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
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