Science Exists in a Cultural Context (2 of 3)

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Science corrects itself.
Sometimes people make mistakes. Occasionally scientists are swept up in a current of ideas that leads them astray. But errors, misconceptions, and misdirections are corrected by the scientific community itself. Sometimes corrections take years, decades, or even centuries. Improved understanding may result from new technology or changing perspectives, but sooner or later a closer approximation of the truth appears. The fact that old hypotheses fall and new ones take their place does not mean that science is invalid as a way of gathering knowledge. Plasticity of thought is the very essence of the scientific process.

For example, within the past 100 years, textbooks have gone from grouping all living things into two kingdoms, to portraying the connectedness of life as three domains.

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