John
Gray:
“....(Bertrand)
Russell’s view of science was beset by an unresolved conflict. In his role as a
rationalist reformer, he viewed science as the chief hope of mankind. Science
was the embodiment of rationality in practice, and the spread of the scientific
outlook would make humanity more reasonable. As a sceptical philosopher,
Russell knew that science could not make humanity more rational, for science is
itself the product of irrational beliefs....”
(preface
to ‘Sceptical Essays’ by Bertrand Russell, 1928/2004)
The Economist, Aug 18th 2005:
“Although scientists devised beautifully neat formulae to explain
complicated phenomena, the scientific revolution itself was a messy business.
For a start, some natural philosophers refused to behave like scientists.
Newton spent many of his best years working away on theology and alchemy,
rather than dutifully laying down the foundations of modern physics. The
experiments at the heart of the new philosophical method were often hard to
replicate. Boyle's famous air pumps, for example, were always leaking. And by
the 18th century, when the revolution really ought to have been over, armillary
spheres were still being produced with the Ptolemaic and Copernican heavens
side by side, as if the makers had hedged their bets.”
“I trust him—he has a science background.”
Artist: Edward Koren, The New Yorker, June 2016