“Many kinds of men devote themselves to Science, and not all for the sake of Science herself. There are some who come into her temple because it offers them the opportunity to display their particular talents. To this class of men science is a kind of sport in the practice of which they exult, just as an athlete exults in the exercise of his muscular prowess. There is another class of men who come into the temple to make an offering of their brain pulp in the hope of securing a profitable return. These men are scientists only by the chance of some circumstance which offered itself when making a choice of career. If the attending circumstance had been different they might have become politicians or captains of business. Should an angel of God descend and drive from the Temple of Science all those who belong to the categories I have mentioned, I fear the temple would be nearly emptied. But a few worshipers would still remain—some from former times and some from ours.”
The excerpt was taken from Albert Einstein’s Prologue to “Where Is Science Going?”.
Gemplate asks:
- If it is so difficult to find true scientists among the multitude of people who have devoted their lives to the study of nature, how can we find the truth in the rest of the people who are not so keen on truly knowing it?
- How can we tell the real ‘worshipers’ from the false ones so that we can know the truth and not its imitations?
- Why is it important to know the truth?