As social science undergraduates we used to spend much time (much influenced by Popper) in earnest debate on the question of whether social science could ever be a science
It was not until I was in my 30s, working alongside scientists, engineers & medics in multidisciplinary teams that I began to think: Hang on a minute. Is science a science?
I was thinking again about this after the recent In Our Time on Baconian science
when even the distinguished panel seemed to be expressing some doubts about what this was, or is, or ever could be
This came together with another question I have recently been pondering: What is the difference between a Law & a Theory
We have Newton’s Laws of Motion, but Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. And a theory is more than just a hypothesis, certainly when that hypothesis involves intelligent design
Does the difference lie in mathematical expression – Darwin was certainly aware of his limitations in this regard
But if it does, why are modern physicists searching for a Theory, rather than a Law, of Everything?
And where does that leave those of us who find just looking for, or at, patterns, in all their infinite variety, a far more absorbing activity
