eg, mapping the human genome, discovery of nuclear fusion, landing spacecraft on the moon and mars,etc. implying science is OVER. what about the other frontiers we haven't fully plumbed like the human mind for instance? ain't we still trying to crack the neural code? what about discovering answers to problems like the riddle of free will and the puzzle of autism, etc.
2007-03-22 09:02:57 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
There is a good chance that his prediction is very close to the truth.
Man lived for thousands of years without much change.
Then in the last hundred years his knowledge and technology began to expand exponentially.
The last 30 years has resulted in a logarithmic spiral that cannot be maintained.
There are lots of things to accomplish but the pace cannot be sustained.
It's difficult to theorize on what will happen since there is absolutely no empirical evidence to draw on.
2007-03-23 05:56:47 · answer #1 · answered by Billy Butthead 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
In the late 1800s some people said the same thing. They thought all the basic science had been discovered and only some small details needed to be refined. Then radioactivity, relativity, and quantum mechanics came along and showed us we really didn't know anything at all. That will happen again and again, basically forever. So, no, it isn't the end of science.
2007-03-22 18:35:20 · answer #2 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Near the end of the 19th century (1890's), the man in charge of the US patent office said that they might as well close the patent office soon, as their would be nothing left to invent.
He too was wrong.
I did not read the book, so I do not know what Horgan meant by "the end of science". Did he really mean: nothing left to discover?, or did he mean that people will no longer practice what we now call science?
2007-03-22 16:12:43 · answer #3 · answered by Raymond 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Back in the mid-19th century Lord Kelvin (who developed the concept of absolute zero--he was a real scientist) said that all of physics had been discovered--anything further was just details. Shortly thereafter, we had the discoevery of Xrays, radio, Einsteins theory of relativity. . . .
There is always someone around who has no imagination and likes to here themselves talk to say "we've learned all there is to learn." People like that just take up space. Ignore them.
2007-03-22 16:18:43 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Reminds me of the move a hundred years ago to close the patent office because everything had been discovered already. They were wrong then and are wrong now.
2007-03-22 16:09:51 · answer #5 · answered by RationalThinker 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
science is not over until we have discovered the grand unified theory of everything. That hasn't happened yet.
2007-03-22 16:15:50 · answer #6 · answered by Louis G 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋