Page 155 - Word Power Made Easy: The Complete Handbook for Building a Superior Vocabulary

SESSION 11

A true scientist lives up to the etymological meaning of his title “one who knows.” Anything
scienti c is based on facts—observable facts that can be recorded, tested, checked, and
verified.
Science, then, deals with human knowledge—as far as it has gone. It has gone very far
indeed since the last century or two, when we stopped basing our thinking on guesses,
wishes, theories that had no foundation in reality, and concepts of how the world ought to
be; and instead began to explore the world as it was, and not only the world but the whole

universe. From Galileo, who looked through the rst telescope atop a tower in Pisa, Italy,
through Pasteur, who watched microbes through a microscope, to Einstein, who deciphered
riddles of the universe by means of mathematics, we have at last begun to ll in a few
areas of ignorance.
Who are some of the more important explorers of knowledge—and by what terms are

they known?

IDEAS

1. whither mankind?

The eld is all mankind—how we developed in mind and body from primitive cultures
and early forms.

An anthropologist

2. what’s above?

The eld is the heavens and all that’s in them—planets, galaxies, stars, and other
universes.

An astronomer

3. and what’s below?

The eld is the comparatively little and insigni cant whirling ball on which we live—the
earth. How did our planet come into being, what is it made of, how were its mountains,
oceans, rivers, plains, and valleys formed, and what’s down deep if you start digging?

A geologist