Science Must Learn from Chinese History

Science Cannot have Creeds > Example/Illustration > Chinese Cultural Innovations Turned to Ritual
The Chinese were an incredibly advanced civilization, with writing, printing presses, and medicinal knowledge, but their discoveries turned to rituals without understanding or new growth. If science education becomes ritual, through rote memorization, it will suffer the same fate. Science is a process, not a body of knowledge.

 Science as a Candle in the Dark

Science as a Candle in the Dark > Similarity > Discoveries Open Doors to More Discoveries
Diderot and Davy both use the metaphor that Carl Sagan uses for his book and Asimov also references.

 Ancient Knowledge at the Library of Alexandria

Alexandria's Promise of a Brilliant Scientific Civilization > Example/Illustration > Ionian Science
What fantastic ancient knowledge was lost with the destruction of the Library of Alexandria? A survey of Ionian Science gives us some hints.

 World More Beautiful Through Science

Richard Feynman on Science > Similarity > Rainbow More Beautiful Through Science
Richard Feynman and Mark Akenside both describe how a scientific understanding of the world increases our appreciation of it.

 Knowledge for its Own Sake

What Makes a Person Predisposed To Science > Example/Illustration > Mathematicians Do Math for Its Own Sake
Successful scientists do their work for its own sake, enjoying the beauty of ideas. Mathematicians work in a type of poetry of ideas, a literature of numbers.

 Science is Patient

Science is Patient Observation > Emphasis > How To Enjoy Science
Patient observation is a crucial component for being a good scientist.

 Science Requires Effort

Enjoying Science Requires Effort > Emphasis > Reading the Music of Science
You must learn the language of science and love nature to enjoy and appreciate it.

 Examples of Scientists Who Believed in Rationalism

Schweitzer on Rationalism > Example/Illustration > Science Virtue and its Impact on History
Schweitzer explains why rationalism is essential to spiritual fulfillment, and Bronowski lays out examples throughout history of scientists following this idea.

 Creating the Most Basic and Essential Science Book Possible

Requirements for a Science Bible > Example/Illustration > Contents of the Doomsday Chest
We are lacking a fundamental book of science, a book that captures the most elementary laws and how-to's necessary to rekindle scientific research if it were ever lost.

 The Evolving Humanist Manifesto

1933 Humanist Manifesto > Time Sequence > 1973 Humanist Manifesto II - Introduction
In light of historical events between 1933 and 1973, the American Humanist Association had to revise their manifesto to make it more hopeful and realistic about humanity: It is forty years since Humanist Manifesto I (1933) appeared. Events since then make that earlier statement seem far too optimistic. Nazism has shown the depths of brutality of which humanity is capable. Other totalitarian regimes have suppressed human rights without ending poverty. Science has sometimes brought evil as we...