Science is a Process

Science is, first and foremost, a process. It is a process for producing reliable knowledge about the natural world. Certain tenets of this process increase the likelihood of reliable knowledge. Claims must be based on evidence. Claims must be falsifiable. It must be possible for scientists to test the claims of other scientists. And so on. Over time, due to these and other tenets of the scientific method, the process of science tends to produce reliable results. However, this does not mean that what a given scientist, or group of scientists, happens to believe at a particular moment is true. There are endless examples of mistakes made along the way. Sometimes the entire community believes something that turns out not to be true. Sometimes the entire community rejects something that does turn out to be true. Sometimes the entire community just changes it mind on an issue because there is a better way to look at it. And, there is nothing wrong with this. It is the way science works. The goal is not to be right at every step along the way. The goal is to be as close as you can be every step of the way while ensuring the most reliable knowledge over time.

"Over time" is the key phrase here. And problems arise when people take something that scientists believe at a give moment in time as gospel. It is not. Over time, as the process continues, it becomes more reliable. But, sometimes it takes quite a while to achieve any degree of reliability. Imagine taking a Thanksgiving turkey out of the over when it is half cooked and serving it for dinner. Since the process of cooking is not finished, this would be a really bad idea. Similarly, taking claims from an ongoing scientific debate as gospel before they have had a sufficient opportunity to be tested and refined is also a really bad idea. And it is an idea that Crichton brings out repeatedly.