ABSTRACT
I acknowledge that beliefs of one sort or another play an essential part in every aspect of our lives, but modern western science is conducted according to conventions which make the nature of the inherent beliefs, and of such ‘truth’ as it presents, apparent. The fruits of scientific research are (or should be) universal public knowledge, subjected to scrutiny by other scientists and all others interested. The efforts of scientists to be disinterested and unbiased, and the scepticism involved in the systematic testing of research findings, contribute to distinguishing scientific from religious ‘truth’ (Ziman, 1996). Scientists know only too well that beliefs and theories are fallible. Science may not always lead towards truth, though we would like to believe that it does, but the very nature of the practice of science involves the capacity to adjust its beliefs in the light of new knowledge to a greater extent than that of most religious systems.
