Science Disrobed

The Misuse of Scientific “Authority” for Utopian Ends
by Thomas S. Buchanan

Have you ever wondered why, whenever academics gather for formal events, they wear medieval robes with hoods and strange hats? This academic regalia has

been worn since the eleventh century and represents the clothing of the first professors in medieval Europe (Oxford, Bologna, Paris, etc.). Those first professors wore clerical garb because they were priests. Later, as non-priests were added to their ranks, they, too, wore medieval priestly attire. One presumes this is because they wished to be identified with priestly authority.

Some scholars working in the sciences today act as if they had priestly authority. In 1965, Ralph Lapp wrote a book entitled The New Priesthood, in which he expressed concern regarding the rising power of a scientific class. He warned: “If technology is so enticing that society is powerless to resist its charms, then it can become the Great Dictator of our times. There is a real danger that science—and its rampageous offspring technology—may become a modern Moloch if not brought under control.” He continued:

If society abdicates to the scientists, or if there is no effective dialogue, then the focus of decision will be upon the scientists. Their value judgments will be imposed on society. . . . To say that science seeks the truth does not endow scientists as a group with special wisdom of what is good for society.

Lapp’s concern about this new priesthood of scientists, or those pretending to speak for science, is more valid today than it was in 1965.

The Conflict Between Science & Religion

Animosity between scientists and the Church is not new. I often get invited to give talks on college campuses addressing the topic, “How can one be a Christian and a scientist?” because there is a perceived conflict between the two. Let’s begin with some historical background.

In some circles in the late nineteenth century, it was commonplace to say that science was the new religion and that Christianity had been replaced. John William Draper described how Christians, especially Catholics, were standing in the way of science when he published his book, History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science, in 1874. Draper was a reputable scientist: he founded the NYU School of Medicine and was president of the American Chemical Society. Speaking of the great advancements of science in the 1800s, he warned that people of faith were calling for a return to the “semi-barbarian ignorance and superstition of the middle-ages.” He concluded:

Religion must relinquish that imperious, that domineering position which she has so long maintained against Science. There must be absolute freedom for thought. The ecclesiastic must learn to keep himself within the domain he has chosen, and cease to tyrannize over the philosopher, who, conscious of his own strength and the purity of his motives, will bear such interference no longer.

Others wrote similar screeds. In 1896, Andrew Dickson White, president of Cornell, wrote the two-volume History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom. Here he asserted what came to be known as the “conflict thesis” of science against the “dogmatic theology” of Christianity. In 1918, German sociologist Max Weber proclaimed the “disenchantment of the world.” He argued that scientific understanding was more highly valued than belief, and that the modern, secular Western world was oriented toward rational goals, as opposed to traditional society, in which “the world remains a great enchanted garden.” He further stated that only “certain big children” still had reservations about the triumph of science over religion.

Thomas S. Buchanan is the George W. Laird Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware. He has studied at UCSD, Northwestern University, and MIT, and has held visiting professorships at the University of Western Australia and the University of Aix-Marseille. He has served as department chairman, deputy dean, and institute director, president of the American Society of Biomechanics, and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Biomechanics. He is on the Board of Trustees of Saint Katherine College, the editorial board of Touchstone, and the board of The Fellowship of St. James.

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