Twenty six centuries have lapsed since Anaximander suggested that rain is not sent by Zeus. Rather, it is water evaporated by the sun and carried by the wind. The battle to realize that the scientific method of representing knowledge and the science-minded mode of thinking is deeper, richer and better for us than any God, is still ongoing, but by no means is it lost, as it often seems.
Carlo Rovelli
Physicist, Universite’ de la Mediterranee, Marseille
Unfortunately, human beings being human beings, a small proportion of scientists are none too scrupulous about their findings, and have known to be receptive to large dollops of money from, say, oil companies in order to prove what they know to be false. The most amusing case was the recent one where a French “scientist”, living in S. W France in the goose-growing region, stated as a fact that foix gras is good for the health and harmless to the heart. I doubt he expected to be taken seriously; regrettably, the science-whores who cash in in Republican pro-business policies are no joke.