ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the relationship between scientific observations and routine experience. It focuses on the effects of science— the effects of its products and thought styles— on everyday life. Apparent differences between common-sense experiences and scientific descriptions of these experiences may occur because of the limitations of descriptive language. Science, like other activities of daily life, depends upon human language as derived from typical human experience. The practical effects of science on the world are derived from applied research. The highly visible effects of science in everyday life have resulted in general acceptance of the scientific attitude as a way of understanding natural events. This acceptance of the scientific attitude has had a practical impact inasmuch as the scientific attitude proposes a model of reality different from other attitudes toward experience, especially those of some religious groups. Scientists are sometimes accused of being amoral, of failing to take significant stands on controversial issues such as nuclear weapons or pollution.
