[asa] what is science?

http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/199910/letters.cfm

Readers Question "What is Science?"

The rules of scientific exchange that you list in the June issue of APS News <http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/199906/index.cfm> are not applicable to those working in cosmology and on question of origins. Replication is not something that we can do with unique events. I believe that you ought to use "physical universe" rather than "world" in your definition of science. Experimental data can be gathered entirely by means of mechanical devices. However, the whole of reality may encompass more than the physical. For instance, man is a "detector" of the spiritual. Science is amoral. Its use determines whether "science extends and enriches our lives." The latter requires human moral/ethical decisions that lie outside of the purview of science.
Moorad Alexanian
University of North Carolina at Wilmington

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Received on Sat Sep 15 22:49:22 2007