| What is Science!? | | | | phenomena, to electromechanics, to astronomy. A |
| First of all, Science! is not the same as science. | | | | master of Science!, he could do almost anything |
| Science! is the study and knowledge of all things | | | | (except patch a hole in a boat). |
| scientific, quasiscientific, or pseudoscientific. Anything | | | | Science! has evolved over time. In the 50's and 60's, |
| that is obscure, incoherent, or improbable is made clear | | | | the Scientist! was a non-specialist (and usually male). |
| by the purveyor of Science! (also known as the | | | | Science! gave him mastery over every possible field |
| Scientist!). The Scientist! has access to knowledge that | | | | of study (much like the professor in "Gilligan's Isle"). In |
| even scientists do not have access to. They are truly | | | | modern times, the Scientist! is more likely to be a |
| the masters of all that is True and Scientific! | | | | specialist, to acknowledge that, in the real world, most |
| There are 3 characteristics of the practitioner of | | | | scientists are specialists. What they get wrong, |
| Science! | | | | however, undermines the one thing they tried to get |
| | | | right. For example, in the TV show Stargate SG-1. The |
| 1. They always work alone. Scientists usually have | | | | character of Sam Carter is a Scientist! specializing in |
| teams of other scientists and technicians working with | | | | physics, while Daniel Jackson is a Scientist! specializing |
| them. The Scientist!, on the other hand, works alone, in | | | | in archaeology. They both (especially Sam) have the |
| their own, small, often home-built, laboratory. The | | | | attributes of the Scientist!, however. 1) They work |
| laboratory will be filled with various whirring, clicking, | | | | alone, 2) they solve the mysteries of the universe in a |
| blinking, or bubbling pieces of lab equipment which | | | | few hours or days, and 3) most of the other scientists |
| appear to have no purpose since the Scientist! never | | | | (when they show up with a theory) are wrong. |
| touches them. | | | | Another example of a modern Scientist! is the |
| 2. They work fast. In real science, scientists develop | | | | protagonist, Robert Langdon, in The DaVinci Code. |
| theories, test their theories, and then modify or | | | | Although Langdon deviates slightly from the typical |
| abandon the theories as the evidence evolves. The | | | | Scientist! (the typical Scientist! is alone in his beliefs, but |
| process often takes years, if not a lifetime. In Science! | | | | Langdon actually has the support of many of his |
| the Scientist! gets his or her answer in a matter of | | | | peers), in other ways he is the same. He manages to |
| days (or hours, or weeks, or minutes, depending on | | | | solve the great mystery in the course of an evening, |
| what timeframe is most dramatic). Usually, the | | | | and there is never, at any time, a question that he may |
| Scientist! gets a bright idea, runs to the lab to test the | | | | actually be WRONG in his beliefs. |
| theory, and then comes back with an unexpected, but | | | | And so, this is Science!. It is a product of movies, |
| clearly genius, answer to the mystery/problem | | | | television, and literature, and it is real, in the sense that |
| question in record time. | | | | perception is reality. People think that all real science is |
| 3. They are always right. Everyone else is always | | | | done by lone geniuses who try to buck the system |
| wrong. In real science, peer review is a critical part of | | | | that keeps them down. If you ask most people, they |
| the scientific process. In Science! peer review is not | | | | will probably say that we would have flying cars and |
| only unessecary, but is detrimental. Mainstream | | | | robots by now if it weren't for the scientific community |
| scientists never accept what the Scientist! has to say | | | | hobbling the handful of geniuses in their midst. It is this |
| until events prove them to be soundly (and often, | | | | mindset that has led to the proliferation of |
| fatally) wrong. | | | | pseudoscience, and theories such as Intelligent Design. |
| Television, movies, and literature are full of practitioners | | | | The best defense against the growing misconception |
| of Science! One of the best example is the Professor | | | | of what science is and what scientists do, is education. |
| in the TV Series "Gilligan's Isle." Does anyone know | | | | We need to teach our children, and our adults, that |
| what he was a professor of? That's right! He was a | | | | Hollywood is Hollywood, and that a Hollywood Scientist! |
| Professor of Science! The professor understood | | | | has as much basis in reality as a Hollywood action |
| everything from primative cultures, to weather | | | | hero. |