Two things are certain about science. It does not stand still for long,and it is never boring. Oh, among some poor souls, including evenintellectuals in fields of high scholarship, science is frequentlymisperceived. Many see it as only a body of facts, promulgated fromon high in must, unintelligible textbooks, a collection of unchangingprecepts defended with authoritarian vigor. Others view it as nothingbut a cold, dry narrow, plodding, rule-bound process — the scientificmethod: hidebound, linear, and left brained.
These people are the victims of their own stereotypes. They aredestined to view the world of science with a set of blinders. Theyknow nothing of the tumult, cacophony, rambunctiousness, andtendentiousness of the actual scientific process, let alone thecreativity, passion, and joy of discovery. And they are likely toknow little of the continual procession of new insights and discoveriesthat every day, in some way, change our view (if not theirs) of thenatural world.
Kendrick Frazier, “The Year in Science: An Overview”
1988 Yearbook of Science and the Future
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
