Brock University President and Vice-Chancellor Gervan Fearon wrote a piece recently published in The Canadian Science Policy Magazine about the need for science to assist humanity in understanding the consequences of our choices, our conduct and our indifference.

He writes:

“Today, there is a tendency to view science and social change as being disconnected. This view is a relatively recent development in the long history of science, when we consider the evolution of the scientific method and thought dating back from the Egyptians and Greeks to more contemporary times with names such as Bacon, Lippershey, Galilei, and Newton.

Bacon’s inductive reasoning approach ushered hypothesis testing to progressing knowledge and understanding, and to this day defines the scientific methodology. Lippershey and Galilei set the foundation for observations, which led to a re-thinking of the Earth’s place in the solar system, and directly challenged the primacy of the church’s generally expressed view that the Earth was at the centre of the solar system.

It is evident that science has been a catalyst to social change and reconsideration of the social constructs of the time.”

Continue reading the full article here.