fashion, faith, and fantasy

“ Nature herself, after all, surely has no serious interest in the ephemeral whims of human fashion. Nor should science be thought of as a faith, the dogmas of science being under continual scrutiny and subject to the rigorous of experimental examination, to be abandoned the moment that a convincing conflict arises with what we find to be the actuality of nature. And fantasy is surely the province of certain areas of fiction and entertainment, where it is not deemed essential that significant regard be paid to the requirements of consistency with observation, or to strict logic, or even to good common sense. ”

“ Indeed, if a proposed scientific theory can be revealed as being too much influenced by the enslavement of fashion, by the unquestioning following of an experimentally unsupported faith, or by the romantic temptations of fantasy, then it is our duty to point out such influences, and to steer away any who might, perhaps unwittingly, be subject to influences of this kind. ”