If you read these articles each week, you are probably interested in science and the exciting new discoveries that arise every day. Yet the challenges to scientific evidence and the conclusions they generate have rarely been more pervasive or ominous. Perhaps it is time to discuss how science works and how scientists try to move forward and make a difference.
During our training, we are taught the scientific method, which involves forming a theory and testing it with experimentation. A Muslim scientist named Alhazen, who lived in the first century CE, was one of the first theoretical physicists and one of the first proponents of what would much later be called the scientific method. Aristotle is credited with the earliest writing on scientific inquiry, which emphasized observation and reasoning in studying nature.
Before about 1600, supernatural entities were thought to control nature. Thereafter, nature was interpreted by observation and description, and scientific paradigms were developed. Six men are credited with the development of various aspects of the modern scientific method: Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes and Newton.
In the 18th century, scientific writers wrote that the scientist was to be “humble in the face of nature and not be beholden to dogma,” obeying “only his eyes” and following “truth wherever it leads.” The scientific method was the driving force in the Age of Enlightenment between 1685 and 1815. Thinkers of the time believed that humanity could be improved with rational thought and change. This thinking led to scientific advances, inventions, literary works and revolutions.
Today there is a growing anti-science sentiment, where even vaccines that are proven safe and effective are questioned. This belief comes from a paper by former physician Andrew Wakefield, published in 1998 in the prestigious journal Lancet. The paper suggested a link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism. This deeply flawed study included too few subjects to be meaningful, yet it received a great deal of attention. Investigations revealed that Wakefield had been involved in a major conflict of interest, committed fraud, falsified data and performed invasive procedures on the children without ethical clearances. The Lancet retracted the paper and Wakefield lost his medical license.
Despite the debunking of Wakefield’s claims, vaccination rates have declined in many countries and the diseases that would be prevented by these vaccines have re-emerged. The truth is that vaccines are the safest, most cost-effective way of preventing infectious diseases.
Other examples include the president of South Africa refusing to believe that HIV causes AIDS, resulting in an epidemic and many senseless deaths. The Canadian administration led by Stephen Harper forbade scientists to talk about climate change, and now we have that same climate change denial in the US. The scientific evidence is clear. The start of the 21st century was the hottest on record and each of the last three years was hotter than the one before.
Regardless of politics and personal beliefs, we need to push back against those that deny scientific evidence. We have a responsibility to our fellow citizens and future generations to learn the facts and make rational decisions based on the best evidence.
Medical Discovery News is hosted by professors Norbert Herzog at Quinnipiac University, and David Niesel of the University of Texas Medical Branch. Learn more at www.medicaldiscoverynews.com.