Readers say scientists can, indeed, knock on heaven’s door

The letter by Keith Schofield in the August 2012 issue of Physics Today (page 12 ) is a restatement of an old logical fallacy known as the “god of the gaps” argument, which goes like this:

‣ Science has not yet explained X. Therefore, it never will.

‣ Science can never explain X. Therefore, X cannot have a natural explanation.

‣ X must have a supernatural explanation, so it must have been caused by a supernatural being.

‣ That being must be a god, and of course it must be my god.

Scientists don’t need to have the logical absurdity of that argument pointed out to them. Schofield should not need to be reminded that the business of science is to uncover the truth about our universe, not to confirm deeply held beliefs. To uncover the truth, one must be as objective as possible, without interference from emotions or prior beliefs. Schofield appears to be making exactly that mistake.

The history of science is replete with instances where the gaps, once wide and numerous, were filled in by later generations. Galileo Galilei and Charles Darwin are only two examples of prominent gap fillers.