Maths and Physics Society Panel Discussion

The Panel.—Dr Williams (chair), Messrs. Malcolm, Heine, Coleridge, Dawkins.

Dr Williams was quite the ideal chairman for such an occasion. Wielding (appropriately) an engineer's hammer in lieu of a gavel, he controlled the meeting with admorable fairness, adding much to it with his wit and perspicacity.

Scientist Versus Politician.

The first topic discussed was "Is the Scientist Involved in Responsibility regarding the uses to which his work is put?" It soon became evident that direct argument on this question led to the problem of whether the scientist or the politician best knew how scientific discoveries were to be employed. Mr Pearce observed that the question was 'analagous to that of censorship," and various schemes (mostly impracticable) for parliamentary reform were advocated. Though no direct conclusion was reached, it was generally agreed that, as Professor Campbell put it, "The problem is essentially one of our relations as human beings. The study of this has been lamentably neglected."

"Can it be expected that scientific method may be extended to embrace all fields of experience?" was the next question under fire, and probably the thing of greatest value gained here was Potter's definition (quoted by Dr Williams): "A scientific statement is one that can be falsified." It was suggested that human studies might be developed as fields of scientific study (characteristically, members refused to acknowledge Psychology as a Science), but in spite of Mr Malcolm's efforts, no-one was really game to discuss possibilities as far as religious experience was concerned.

Expedient or Real

Mr Heine's masterly introduction to "Are scientific constructs expedient or do they have real existence?" is largely summed up in his own words: "Any abstraction inferred from sense-data can be termed a scientific construct, it doesn't really matter which constructs you use to derive hypotheses which are testable." As may be expected, when the meeting an a whole took up the discussion, problems of existence soon reduced it almost to "cogito ergo sum," though Mr Coleridge's remark that "an electron Ls a scientific construct, but little hard bails are an aid to understanding" contains much compressed wisdom.

Quotes to note:

Mr Malcolm.—"I only have to believe 60 per cent, of what I state."

Mr Dawkins.—"I think scientific method has had its day."

Mr Heine.—"Defining terms is an apology for rigor."

Mr Malcolm (hopefully).—"Then Mr Dawkins exists only in my imagination ?"

—R.J.S.