Article June 7, 1999 Issue

Natural science: where to now?

Be a pioneer in the pursuit of science.

By Warren Bolon

Astronomers and the public were stirred by the pictures of Martian dust storms transmitted by the 1997 Pathfinder probe. It was another step outward in understanding the universe. Another kind of stir is blowing through the scientific community these days. Late last year, a point-counterpoint feature in The New York Times spotlighted a debate between two veteran science writers.

PRESSIMISM AND PRIDE HINDER SCIENCE

John Horgan, author of The End of Science, argued that virtually all of the important theories mapping out fundamental knowledge of the universe and human existence were worked out prior to 1930. These discoveries—among the most significant being Einstein's theory of gravity (general relativity), quantum mechanics, evolutionary biology, and the Big Bang theory of the universe's birth—been empirically proved to the extent possible in each case. Because these theories are demonstrably true, Horgan claims, they can't be superseded.

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