What is the Future of Science?
No one knows the future, so it’s impossible to predict the future of science exactly, but there are a few generalities which seem plausible. First, science is likely to become more open source. One organization, the Public Library of Science, already publishes six open access online journals, the most popular being PLoS Biology. In the world of science, were subscription to a single journal may cost hundreds of dollars per year, open access has the potential to vastly accelerate the progress of science. The popularity of open access journals and publishing one’s papers on websites shows there is immense demand for it to continue. Science is larger, as developing countries like India and China start graduating tens of thousands of new scientists. This is starting off international collaboration in science like never before, though China needs to do more to collaborate with scientists overseas. More scientists means more research, more ideas, more breakthroughs, more everything. In the s
Humanists and humanist organizations frequently invoke “Science” or the “Scientific Method” in an almost religious sense. We believe that the universe can be explained both macroscopically and microscopically through application of scientific principles. Carl Sagan subtitled The Demon–Haunted World, which is almost certainly his farewell to humanity, Science As A Candle in The Dark. Last month I included a short quotation indicating that Mr. Sagan believes that Americans are scientifically illiterate. We have a hunger, indeed a need for science. The problem is that we are fulfilling this vacancy with “pseudo-science.” The book shows that today’s UFO and alien encounter crazes are modern day manifestations of the demons and witches that plagued the earlier centuries in this era. Combine Sagan’s ideas with other items and there is, I believe, real cause for concern. Cora B. Marrett, writing in the Christian Science Monitor, notes that two decades’ worth of surveys reveal that people kno
