Re: hard science
robert korfhage (korfhage@lis.pitt.edu)
Wed, 1 Feb 95 08:33:45 EST
Hopefully, even the "hard" sciences continue to evolve in their
concepts, theories, and so forth. But somehow, I've never heard anyone
debate whether a given number is a complex number or not, or the
definition of Euclidean geometry, or what qualifies as a sucrose
molecule. Yes, personalities do enter the picture, particularly (as
someone mentioned) in how material is taught and presented to the
scientific public. Yes, new theories are roundly debated, and properly
so! Perhaps I'm just a bit too sensitized by being in an environment
where half of the faculty are concerned about how a given system works,
or which process to use to solve a specific problem, and the other half
of the faculty are far more concerned about who said what with respect
to a given concept.
Bob korfhage@lis.pitt.edu