Preliminary statement : a synthesis of modern science / by Marshall Bruce Williams.

  • Bruce-Williams, Marshall.
Date:
[1905]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Preliminary statement : a synthesis of modern science / by Marshall Bruce Williams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    65/76 (page 65)
    The Social Service Institute and the Sociological Society, for •nstance, should be able to use my methods to advantage. 3.—It is not scientific What is precisely meant by this term I do not know. It seems to me that it often seems much the same thing as was meant in the middle ages when the Church said “it is not sound Theology.” This argument does not apply of course to those leaders of science who know the limitations of the scientific approach to life. But such men are rare. The idea of absolute knowledge is a very old and very powerful and seductive one. It has led many first class minds astray. It is the island of “ Ponce de Leon ” in the intellectual world. But it is not a sound one I think when it comes to applying our knowledge. All real knowledge, like all real action, is to a great extent experimental. It is sufficient in my opinion if our knowledge is good enough to act on and be moderately sure of the general character of the results. The real test of my work consists in its power to clear up our ideas on the principles at work in the modern world. A part of this modern world is the scientific world.