Pyers Simon: Should the scientific philosophy and method be taught in schools?

Pyers Symon graduated in biochemistry from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth but now works in IT as a Unix systems specialist. He is married with three teenage children.

One of the saddest aspects of the recent debate on CentreRight.com over Creationism, is the lack of understanding of the scientific method – and the philosophy behind science.

The classic statement which is made about Evolution is “Oh it’s just a theory like any other.”  But without an understanding that the word theory has a specific meaning in science, and when scientists refer to a theory they don’t mean a guess nor a hunch but, rather, “the current explanatory model that best fits the facts”. 

In addition basic scientific tenets are misunderstood: scientists deal in – to use Jacob Bronowski’s phrase, “Knowledge not Certainty”.  In short, scientists aim to get closer and closer to the truth through knowledge – but they are rarely so egotistical as to claim that they are purveyors of truth.  As Nobel Physicist Professor Richard Feynmann put it, “it’s much more interesting not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong.”