Reductionism Is a Criterion of Truth but Not a Road to the Temple

摘要

Reductionism is a universal principle of science, a strict and irreproachable criterion of truth in discoveries and ideas. It states that fundamental laws written on the lower stories of knowledge, on lower steps of the hierarchy of sciences, should be abode accurately on higher stories and steps. New knowledge includes old knowledge as a constituent. The general theory of relativity did not cancel out the classical law of universal gravitation but rather incorporated it. Only ignorant journalists could shout in headlines: “Newton made an error!" The special theory of relativity involved Maxwell’s theory of electromagnetism. Quantum mechanics did not destroy classical Newtonian mechanics but incorporated it as a constituent and a limiting case of low velocities and large masses. The theory of electroweak forces generalized electromagnetic theory and the theory of weak nuclear forces responsible for radioactive nuclear decay. Quantum string theory did not destroy the standard model but added a new sense and a new ring to it. The modern synthetic theory of biological evolution did not change anything in the basic Darwinian theory but widened and strengthened it by adding brilliant molecular– genetic and paleontological proofs.