Abstract
THE jurisprudence of scientific law is a matter for the consideration of the philosopher, but the simple scientific worker can often form a fair idea of the condition of a science by examining what is the constitution of the legislature which is making its laws. In some sciences the government is parliamentary; in others, it is more like the rule of a supreme court of justice. In biology, for example, consider the subject of organic evolution. Here government has been nearly always parliamentary, and among the leading authorities there has usually been a very wide divergence of opinion. Sometimes the conservatives have been in power, sometimes the radicals, and it is sad to record that, as in other spheres of activity, it has often been the chief object of either party to “dish the Whigs” or to keep the Tories out, rather than to attempt to perfect the system of law. With this type of legislature progress is certainly made, but is only made by a succession of rather violent reactions; the Natural Selection Act is passed in spite of the bitter opposition of the conservatives, and for many years is regarded as a panacea for all ills, but, in spite of Mendel's Law (carried without a division), the present seems to be a time of reaction, and the conservatives are having another innings because of certain evilly-disposed creatures which persist in making variations without any eye to their own interests.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
The Quantum Theory. Nature 113, 701–702 (1924). https://doi.org/10.1038/113701a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/113701a0