ABSTRACT
Although the scientific press is still full of exciting new discoveries, there is a widespread sense that all is not well in the world of modern European science (including science-based technology). The most obvious symptoms are a continuing shortfall in recruitment, along with continued public distrust (notably in the United Kingdom and the United States), scandals in both commercialized science (pharmaceuticals) and high-prestige research, and now steadily increasing competition from Asia in many key areas. To the extent that global pollution and climate change are the results of the modern, science-based systems of industrialization, then the pragmatic argument that ‘science is good and true because it is successful’ has been seriously weakened. None of these symptoms marks the end of science as we have known it; there are very many talented and dedicated scientists whose work still contributes to human betterment. But these problems show no sign of going away, and they undeniably merit serious attention. Making sense of these scattered phenomena is not easy. To some extent as an experiment, I have chosen to use an historical approach here, going through some key issues, most of which have been present in modern European science since its creation some 400 years ago.
