“ALL SCienCe iS eitHer PHySiCS or StAmP CoLLeCtinG.”
Ernest Rutherford (1871 – 1937), New Zealand physicist & winner of the Nobel Prize inChemistry (1908), from JB Birks’
Rutherford at Manchester (1962)
It is nearly impossible to arrive at a concise and wholly satisfactorydefinition of “science.” While limited definitions abound, a broaderdefinition of science is, for our purposes here, more useful. Derivedfrom the Latin
scientia
, meaning “knowledge” or “knowing,” science can broadly be understood as the effort to increase human understanding of how the world works through research and experimentation.The scientific pursuit consists of much more than theories andabstractions. It is instead a practice that is applied both inside laboratoriesand in the outside world, affecting the day-to-day lives of all of us. WhileErnest Rutherford’s understanding of science being either “physics orstamp collecting” is narrow (as well as quite amusing), it points to adeeper truth, one of which French mathematician and philosopher of science Henri Poincaré (1854 – 1912) writes in his 1905 work
Science andHypothesis
:
“Scienceisbuiltoffacts,asahouseisbuiltofstones;butanaccumulationoffactsisnomoreasciencethanaheapofstonesisahouse.”
Luther College provides its students with the tools to become“scientists” by helping them draw connections between theory, fact,and the real world and enabling them to apply what they learn in theircommunities.Luther’s long-standing scientific tradition is rooted in itscommitment to providing high school and university students with aliberal arts education. Over the years, the College has not only been blessed with notable science faculty members, but it has also producedalumni who have gone on to contribute to a wide range of scientificdisciplines.This issue of
The Luther Story
is devoted to Luther College alumniand friends who have dedicated themselves to building scientific“houses” by pursuing education, careers and interests in a wide range of “natural” and “applied” sciences.
Jennifer Arends
From the
editor’s desk
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The Luther Story
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DrGordonShepherd(HS‘47)
in front of a vacuumchamber at the York University lab where heand fellow researchers build space instruments.
Photo courtesy of Andrew Drown.
The Luther Story
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THe LuTHer sTOrY • spring & summer • 09
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