Luther Birdzell: Topic 7: Are There Limits to Science?

Group Seven Response - Are there Limits to Science?
Luther Birdzell

	I enjoyed group seven’s presentation on the 
possibility of limits to science.  While during the 
presentation the group had some organizational 
problems, their summary at the end was very helpful.
	I do not believe that there are limits to science 
except technology, time, and the ones which society 
chooses to place on it.  Grant it, one day the sun 
will burn out or the earth will get so close to the 
sun that human life becomes impossible.  So, I guess, 
there is another limit.  However, by the time the 
earth is destroyed or uninhabitable, I am very 
confident that science will provide us with 
alternative living arrangements.
	Traditionally scientific advances can be fairly 
closely correlated to technological ones and time is 
certainly a key factor in the advancement of 
technology.  However, a revived realm of scientific 
limitations are approaching.  At times in the past 
society has placed limits on Science.  The Catholic 
Church, for example, repressed the proof of the 
Copernican model of the solar system for as long as 
they possibly could.  However, since at least the 
late eighteenth century, few, if any, societal limits 
have been placed directly on science.  Social 
pressures have certainly influenced the direction of 
science, however, they have not explicitly limited 
it.  With the recent developments in genetic 
engineering, we may again be faced with society 
forbidding the pursuit of certain science.  I 
personally believe that any science that people can 
and want to pursue should be permitted.  However, in 
the interest of preserving social order, certain 
experiments, cloning of humans for example, should be 
conduced in secret.  If advances are made there are 
ways in which they can reach the public sector 
without panicking the world.
	While technology, time, and maybe social 
institutions may limit science, I do not think that 
we are going to come to final conclusions about any 
fields of science which are completely absolute for 
the rest of time in the near future.