"Science Is About Disbelief"

Right on! Professor Steve Jones, in a lecture at the (British) Royal Society:

Science is about disbelief. It accepts that all knowledge is provisional and that any theory might in principle be disproved. Some theories are better established than others: the earth is probably not flat, babies are almost certainly not brought by storks, and men and dinosaurs are unlikely to have appeared on earth within the past few thousand years. Even so, nothing is sacred in 1905 classical physics collapsed after a seemingly trivial observation about glowing gases and the same is potentially true for all other scientific theories.

Watch the whole thing here, or read more on it from the Panda's Thumb.

Wow, the Brits are really getting it. Panda's Thumb also notes a statement (April 11) from the Royal Society "opposing the misrepresentation of evolution in schools to promote particular relgious beliefs":

[...]
Science has proved enormously successful in advancing our understanding of the world, and young people are entitled to learn about scientific knowledge, including evolution. They also have a right to learn how science advances, and that there are, of course, many things that science cannot yet explain. Some may wish to explore the compatibility, or otherwise, of science with various beliefs, and they should be encouraged to do so. However, young people are poorly served by deliberate attempts to withhold, distort or misrepresent scientific knowledge and understanding in order to promote particular religious beliefs.

Read the whole thing.