Science?is So Greatly Opposed To History And

Those Who Say That The Study Of Science Makes A Man An Atheist, Must Be Rather Silly People.

I Have Tried To Read Philosophers Of All Ages And Have Found Many Illuminating Ideas But No Steady Progress Toward Deeper Knowledge And Understanding. Science, However, Gives Me The Feeling Of Steady Progress: I Am Convinced That Theoretical Physics Is Actual Philosophy. It Has Revolutionized Fundamental Concepts, E.g., About Space And Time (relativity), About Causality (quantum Theory), And About Substance And Matter (atomistics), And It Has Taught Us New Methods Of Thinking (complementarity) Which Are Applicable Far Beyond Physics.

I Believe That Ideas Such As Absolute Certitude, Absolute Exactness, Final Truth, Etc. Are Figments Of The Imagination Which Should Not Be Admissible In Any Field Of Science... This Loosening Of Thinking Seems To Me To Be The Greatest Blessing Which Modern Science Has Given To Us. For The Belief In A Single Truth And In Being The Possessor Thereof Is The Root Cause Of All Evil In The World.

If God Has Made The World A Perfect Mechanism, He Has At Least Conceded So Much To Our Imperfect Intellect That In Order To Predict Little Parts Of It, We Need Not Solve Innumerable Differential Equations, But Can Use Dice With Fair Success.

But In Practical Affairs, Particularly In Politics, Men Are Needed Who Combine Human Experience And Interest In Human Relations With A Knowledge Of Science And Technology. Moreover, They Must Be Men Of Action And Not Contemplation. I Have The Impression That No Method Of Education Can Produce People With All The Qualities Required. I Am Haunted By The Idea That This Break In Human Civilization, Caused By The Discovery Of The Scientific Method, May Be Irreparable.