Friday, August 19, 2005

Words of Caution for Scientific Dogmatists

Remember the aether? Remember phlogiston? There may be more:

Einsten's general relativity theory superseded Newton's because Newton's was less complete. It now seems that Einstein's theory may need some work.

There may be something to Lamarck's pre-Darwinian theory of evolution.

Global warming probably isn't unique to our time.

I admire science, and scientists who practice science. But I don't admire scientists who adhere to certain dogmas because they are predisposed to those dogmas, or because they neatly fit a preferred worldview.