The April Bulletin was brimming with interesting information on a variety of topics. But I take issue with Dr. Joan Scott (Outside the Loop & Doing Research) with respect to the notion that "the only brand of objectivity that science rests on is that of older white men...."

In "Science as Salvation" (Routledge 1992, p. 97) Mary Midgely comments that: "No society can construct a world in which falling off cliffs will not hurt or one in which people do not have inner conflicts. And again the idea that everything we think about is a social construction could not itself be proved."

Michael Polanyi regards "objectivity" as a myth -- better described as a false category (see "Personal Knowledge," Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1958). Polanyi proposes that we make statements "with universal intent" by which I assume he means we hope everyone will share our views. Excluding insanity, I am sure we will all agree about falling off cliffs. On the other hand, unfortunately, there are many other items which do not lend themselves to such facile unanimity. This is a pity.

Finally, Newtonian mechanics is an example of superb "hard" scientific theory. The Newtonian mechanics describes planetary motion with high precision and only falls short of perfection for the planet Mercury. The sophistications of relativistic mechanics are necessary for a correct description of the motion of this planet.

The notion that the motion of the planets somehow depends on the sex of the physicists who proposed the theory is absurd. Indeed the theories of Newton and Einstein are merely a more sophisticated version of what happens when apples fall from trees and people fall off cliffs.

John M.W. Scott
St. John's, Newfoundland