Abstract
MR. H. STRAUSS, M.P., has written stating that the wording of Clause 4 of the Declaration of Scientific Principles presented at the British Association meeting on September 28 (see NATURE, Oct. 4, p. 393) is capable of misinterpretation. The British Association, through Prof. Allan Ferguson and Dr. O. J. R. Howarth, has acknowledged that it does not wish to prescribe any documentary statement as final, and that it is fully prepared to alter the wording of the Declaration in the light of friendly and constructive criticism, while leaving the spirit of the pronouncement unchanged. So far as science is concerned, the formulation of basic laws is undoubtedly profoundly influenced by the structure and state of the civilization in which the laws are formulated, but the shorthand statement, the so–called law, possesses neither sanctity nor finality. It is a policy rather than a creed. It is accordingly proposed to amend the wording of Clause 4 to read: “That the service of science requires independence combined with cooperation and its structure is influenced by the progressive needs of humanity.”
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The Declaration of Scientific Principles. Nature 148, 464 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/148464a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/148464a0