________________
scientism nor does it add to the dignity or stature of one's religious mentors. Scientists could be wrong in their enunciation because of an error in judgment rather than any malintent, but their ardent zeal to seek the truth and capacity for unbiased observation, analysis and evaluation of facts should be acknowledged and given its due credit. It is a well-known fact that science would accept as true only that which stands the test of experimentation. Such a stand of science is fully vindicated by the reality and reliability of gadgets of creature-comfort developed by science for day-to-day use which we all have become so used to. However, it is but natural that a believer in scriptures or follower of the science of self-realisation envisaged by the enlightened would hesitate to accept the statements of modern science as the ultimate truth; because, science itself is an ever-flowing stream wherein new waves of changing ideas keep cropping up now and again. Scientific beliefs also remain in a state of flux all the time, subject to change with the passage of time. Even the staunch believer in Scientism will have to accept this hard fact.
Changeability of scientific concepts:
About a century ago, electricity and magnetism were considered as independent entities but Oestred and Faraday experimentally proved that electric current is always surrounded by magnetic field and under certain conditions, magnetic forces can generate an electric current. This led to the concept of electro-magnetic field that unified the electric and magnetic forces into one single entity of energy.
All scientific concepts are not necessarily derived from experimentation alone. Scientific postulates are based on two systems; one inferred from experimental data and the other based on mathematical calculations. Some of the prestigious concepts of modern physics, like quantum theory, theory of
64
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org