Illustration by Oliver Munday

Im not one to delve deeply into the epistemology of science, but having been given this book review ( quote: “what makes science science?”) article to read from the New Yorker, I think this next quote is interesting as it touches on the progress of science in relation to physics. Just substitute forensics and police science and its a good read.

The article lives in the broader world of Einstein, alchemy, secret knowledge, quantum theory debunking and, in a certain extent, how human “experts” mistreat each other and the public interest for personal gain.

The context:

“They see a muddle of coercion, old magical ideas, occasional experiment, hushed-up failures—all coming together in a social practice that gets results but rarely follows a definable logic.”

The book is by the Scientific American contributing editor George Musser, “Spooky Action at a Distance” (Scientific American/Farrar, Straus & Giroux).