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Tuesday, March 16, 2004 Browsing the Online Stacks It's interesting to read old science journals. One gets the feeling that the authors of the articles not only write differently but think differently. They feel more certain of themselves. Things are black and white. And there's a thread of optimism running between the lines--they are sure that science will triumph over all. Except these days it's more like: now that we have the science, what will we do with what it may bring us? However, I can't help but think that something T.H. Huxley mentions in The Coming of Age of "The Origin of Species" (originally published in Science, Vol. 1, No. 2, Jul. 10, 1880) as being amazingly apt for today: History warns us, however, that it is the customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and to end as superstitions; and, as matters now stand, it is hardly rash to anticipate that, in another twenty years, the new generation, educated under the influences of the present day, will be in danger of accepting the main doctrines of the "Origin of Species," with as little reflection, and it may be with as little justification, as so many of our contemporaries, twenty years ago, rejected them. Scary, isn't it, how in our contemporary times so many people view science as is instead of taking the time to understand, say, how even a refrigerator works. Aside: Of course, Science isn't exactly foolproof. In the same volume, published on July 31, 1880 was a blurb about "The Magnet in Medicine" which reported the wonders of magnetic theraputics which was resurrected by a certain Prof. Maggiorani. In experiments, the magnet was placed one or two centimeters away from the body since it was believed to act at a distance. As a result: A large needle made to pass unawares through the flesh of the subject whose eyes are kept carefully bandaged, shows in an absolutely objective way the profound anaesthesia which the parts have attained. But the phenomena of sensibility are not the only ones produced; the magnet has an influence upon temperature, as the thermometer distinctly shows. It acts also on the molilité of the parts to which it is applied, provoking contractions of an intensity and of a duration which removes all suspicion of simulation. The physician must be a mere novice who could mistake a prolonged and voluntary contraction for a true contracture. I wonder if by "novice" they mean a physician who isn't a quack. [posted by S. Y. Affolee on 2:30 PM : ]
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