Paul- There was once a 'solid foundation' amongst scientific knowledge of the day, that the earth was flat, that miasma caused disease, that space travel was impossible---and many more. Science can only penetrate within the narrow confines of contemporary human knowledge because science is the interpretation of natural phenomena and the discovery of how it all fits together by scientists (ie humans ) alive at the time. Cures, theories and discoveries follow the curiosity of the human researcher- so errors do occur. No science is set in concrete, all discoveries etc. are subject to later research, all worthwhile discoveries evolve.
Whilst science tries to find 'truth', it never assumes, as do you, that once a suggestion seems to provide a solution it is the only possible answer, and thus the only possible 'truth'. Instead a scientist uses the emerging truth as a pointer for further research and knowledge. Maybe that is the 'operating principle' as suggested by FF-- I don't know, I am not a scientist, but it seems possible to me.
Last edited by Ellis; 03/09/09 02:40 AM. Reason: typo as usual
