Oh yes, I bet that title made you sit up, even some hackles rise, so no I did not say the arrogance of scientists and it would ill become a complete nonentity in this field to make such an accusation, In fact it is probably a bit thick for such a dummy to comment on this subject at all – in any way!
However, here goes. To start off I must point out that I have been reading, not studying you will note, an absolutely marvellous book called The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes. Of course it is thick and the technicalities it alludes to are beyond me, although as a primer for instance it has introduced me to Herschel, his sister and a little more than a sketchy idea of what the London Planetarium was depicting, ie. I had no concept at all of the relevant positions of the planets positioned around the sun with moons nipping around them and everything twirling like billyo and all seemingly suspended and maintaining relevant calculable trajectories. But enough of this ‘instance.’ There are other subjects, such as Sir Joseph Banks, who initially interested me as I had previously visited his estate at Revesby in Lincolnshire; not the dwelling you will understand, but the annual country fair held in its grounds. I must also admit there were more earthly interests in his voyage of exploration with Captain Cook in the Endeavour and particularly his ‘investigations’ amongst the dusky maidens in Tahiti; there was also an item on Mungo Park and his Niger quest in Africa.
Then I came to the ‘gassy’ Sir Humphrey Davy. In fact I am still on him, that’s Sir Humphrey, not yet having progressed beyond an astonishing passage that I read of his ‘trip’ to the Continent and Paris in particular in 1812 to pick up a Prix Napoleon (worth 6,000 livres). Quoting the passage in the book:
“He knew that accepting the award might be unpopular in wartime England, but following Bank’s line at the Royal Society, that science was above national conflicts. He told Tom Poole ‘some people say I ought not to accept this prize and there have been foolish paragraphs in the papers to that effect, but if the two countries or governments are at war, the men of science are not. That indeed would be a civil war of the worst description, we should rather, through the instrumentality of men of science, soften the asperity of national hostility.”
So now does the reader concede I may have a point in talking of the concept of scientific arrogance in general? I know Sir Humphrey said ‘men of science’, but I am sure the implication was that it was science itself that made it a requirement of its adherents that they maintain the stature and an ideology of science as being godlike and superior, i.e., that only science counted.
This business of maintaining scientific links with the enemy even during time of war, overt or covert, such as in the time of Cold War, has persisted to this day, and even now in a time of supposed peace where I hear that Coronavirus could have emanated from a Chinese lecturer teaching and escorted from a Canadian University. And what about American ‘forces’ having visited Wuhan and leaving their calling card of the virus?
I have often puzzled whatever led US and British scientific scientists to pass nuclear secrets to the Russians after WWII and during the Cold War. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that ‘we’ were conversing with the Germans on Jet Engine concepts during the war, or the Americans were already in contact with von Braun and his mob regarding rocket concept and design; they certainly got a free ride (reward?) after the war. Why did the Labour government donate the design of the Derwent jet engine, free of charge to the Ruskies, which allowed them to develop the so superior MIG jets that shot down everything American in Korea? Oh, and I forgot to mention the global warming scientific scam where just because 49 scientists “know” and can prove (so they say) global warming is going to swamp the world, we are meant to just take their word for it and oh no! Must not question their ‘God’, science.
Nah, science isn’t going to cure global warming and it ‘aint going to cure Corona bleedin’ virus.
As they say in Rome, “beware the ides of March”.
It’s the Ides of April today.
“Beware of the arrogance of science during the Ides of April.”
PS. Not sure if it was 49 scientists or 149, do you know?
Photo by tahewitt 
Thank you for interesting replies, I had mused that the world of science was one where it appeared that the only recognition of original research was often a write up in a professional journal or some posh medal or sometimes a “K” etc.
It was usually left to others to develop the product and make a fortune.
I read further on Davy and his miner’s Safety Lamp and he refused to take out a patent on it, presumably Davy was only interested in his “aid” to humanity and the plaudits and universal early recognition.
Not that I know a lot about it, but it appears the modern era is more or less devoted to pecuniary ends and it is a rush to get a patent before supposed opposition get one, the opposition being other pharma of which there must be loads world wide and all lobbying for funds.
I think what I am trying to say is that the “purity of purpose” is often absent in scientists when they are struggling to appease wily paymasters.
Ref David Somers report on the work of Allan Savory – I have seen it before a few years ago and I am pleased he is still current, but I’ll bet he is making little headway in the face of the Vegan campaign in harness with the GW menaces. I did have a bit of a problem with the amount of methane gas the additional mass of animals will produce floating off into the atmosphere and also I found the final question after his lecture unbelievable, that you can put a flock of animals on an apparently grass less desert and they will not only survive but green it without supplementary feed..So I approve but……… I can’t really see his work catching on.
The Sciences were never my ‘thing’, so I guess that puts me into your company Roger. ….. When a problem is recognised, or an understanding needs to be proved, Scientists as individuals or in groups get stuck in by using what is known. – This is the start point to any discovery, and with much work and time, ideas emerge that then have to be tested. ….. Within that test period, many strongly held ideas bite the dust due to coming into contact with situations that are engineered by the testing. – Only by clear facts will those strongly held ‘certainties’ be discarded ! – In other words to put it hyper simplistically, A added to B works, except where C comes into play ! ….. I don’t knock Science or the Scientists because required experimentation is so very important, but I will never buy into the idea that, it or they, can ever be godlike or superior. – They have to struggle with facts, and it is only at the point of total fact, that they will have succeeded ! – Take as an item, Global Warming. – We all know that it is a fact that it is happening, but the cause of this problem still has a wooly edge around the facts. – Mankind cutting back on the filth that is being chucked into the air and oceans, is good anyway, but the problem may well be the great ‘something else’ !
The world is littered with the debris of arrogance, science is a major player and their faith in their expert methodology creates casualties on a regular basis. Here is a story of a man that is betrayed by that faith, who soldiered on to make sure it never happened again.
At risk of stating the obvious…science researchers only get paid for doing research if a problem arises, in order to find a solution. If the problem diminishes too soon, logically so does their income.
As mentioned, Climate Change must be keeping thousands of scientists in work and, of course, if it’s discovered that there’s no thing to worry about after all, and having deliberately ignored all the evidence to the contrary, well then that’s OK, isn’t it! Except that’s it’s not OK, it’s fraud.
There’s a petition out calling for the replacement of the head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom.. after his decidedly unpleasant political background in Ethiopia was uncovered…It’s still there to sign on Change.org…nearly a million signatures so far. A snappy youtube filmlet on this topic is to be found at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPSlqF5pjrw&w=640&h=360
So what is this virus really all about, we ask ourselves….?
Herschel was also a pretty fine composer ( that era seemed to breed polymaths and geniuses.) I am particularly fond of his 8th Symphony.
Politics vs Reality.
Always good for a heated exchange.