Foraboutthreecenturieswehavebeendoingscience,tryingscienceout,usingsciencefortheconstructionofwhatwecallmoderncivilization.Everydispensableitemofcontemporarytechnology,fromcanallockstodialtelephonestopenicillin,waspiecedtogetherfromtheanalysisofdataprovidedbyoneoranotherseriesofscientificexperiments.Threehundredyearsseemsalongtimefortestinganewapproachtohumaninter-living,longenoughtosetbackforcriticalappraisalofthescientificmethod,maybeevenlongenoughtovoteonwhethertogoonwithitornot.Thereisanargument.Voiceshavebeenraisedinprotestsincethebeginning,risinginpitchandviolenceinthenineteenthcenturyduringtheearlystagesoftheindustrialrevolution,summoningurgentcrowdsintothestreetsontheissueofnuclearenergy."Giveitback,"saysomeofthevoices,"Itdoesn'treallywork,we'vetrieditanditdoesn'twork.Gobackthreehundredyearsandstartagainonsomethingelselesschancyfortheraceofman."Theprinciplediscoveriesinthiscentury,takingallinall,aretheglimpsesofthedepthofourignoranceofnature.Thingsthatusedtoseemclearandrational,andmattersofabsolutecertainty-Newtonianmechanics,forexample-haveslippedthroughourfingers;andweareleftwithanewsetofgiganticpuzzles,cosmicuncertainties,andambiguities.Someofthelawsofphysicsareamendedeveryfewyears;somearecanceledoutright;someundergorevisedversionsoflegislativeintentasiftheywereactsofCongress.JustthirtyyearsagowecallitabiologicalrevolutionwhenthefantasticgeometryoftheDNAmoleculewasexposedtopublicviewandthelinearlanguageofgeneticswasdecoded.Forawhile,thingsseemedsimpleandclear:thecellwasaneatlittlemachine,amechanicaldevicereadyfortakingtopiecesandreassembling,likeatinywatch.Butjustinthelastfewyearsithasbecomealmostunbelievablycomplex,filledwithstrangepartswhosefunctionsarebeyondtoday'simagining.Itisnotjustthatthereismoretodo,thereiseverythingtodo.Whatliesahead,orwhatcanlieaheadiftheeffortsinbasicresearcharecontinued,ismuchmorethantheconquestofhumandiseaseortheimprovementofagriculturaltechnologyorthecultivationofnutrientsinthesea.Aswelearnmoreaboutfundamentalprocessesoflivingthingsingeneralwewilllearnmoreaboutourselves.