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| − | A scientist is a practitioner of [[science]]. | + | {{See also|scientism}} |
| | + | A '''scientist''' is someone who practices [[science]]. Many scientists are politically [[liberal]], [[agnostic]], or [[atheist]], more so than society as a whole. |
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| − | Scientists have traditionally been holy men (such as devout Christian [[Isaac Newton]] or monk Gregor Mendel), devoted to understanding nature in an effort to glorify the works of God. However, in recent years the field of science has become dominated by secular atheists of questionable morality who value evidence over the infallible word of God.
| + | == Scope of term == |
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| − | Modern-day scientific theories such as [[evolution]], the [[theory of relativity]], and heliocentrism are built upon faulty logic, as they contradict the unchanging truth of the Bible.
| + | Depending on the [[context]], the term "scientist" might refer to anyone using the [[scientific method]] or anyone with a qualification in a field of science. |
| | + | In most cases, both will be true, but in other cases only one or the other may be true. |
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| | + | == Origin of term == |
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| | + | The invention of the word ''scientist'' is often credited to [[William Whewell]] (1794-1866), who was himself a scientist as well as a moral [[philosopher]] and [[Anglican]] priest. In 1858, he wrote: |
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| | + | :As we cannot use ''physician'' for a cultivator of [[physics]], I have referred to him as a ''Physicist.'' |
| | + | :We need very much[sic] a name to describe a cultivator of science in general. I should incline to call him a ''Scientist.'' Thus we might say that as an Artist is a Musician, Painter, or Poet, a Scientist is a Mathematician, Physicist, or Naturalist.<ref>Whewell, William (1858), ''Novum Organon Renovatum: Being the second part of the philosophy of the inductive sciences,'' J. W. Parker and Son, [https://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC22881657&id=xYMKAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA14-PA338&lpg=RA14-PA338&dq=%22william+whewell%22+scientist p. 338]</ref> |
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| | + | Prior to this, scientists were usually called "natural philosophers" or "natural historians." (The oldest scientific journal in the world, established in 1665, is entitled ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.'' Among its early numbers are letters from Leeuwenhoek describing his discovery of [[microorganism]]s). |
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| | + | == Science and religion == |
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| | + | Many scientists have been religious or held a belief in God ([[Isaac Newton]]<ref>http://www.newton.cam.ac.uk/newtlife.html</ref> or monk [[Gregor Mendel]]<ref>http://www.adherents.com/people/pm/Gregor_Mendel.html</ref>). Scientific ideas date back to the ancient Greeks, and scientists come from a variety of religious traditions, including Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus. Many scientists believe that scientific discoveries are God-inspired. A 1998 study indicates that among U. S. scientists belief in God has declined between 1914 and 1998, with 7% believing, 72.2% disbelieving, and 20.8% professing doubt or agnosticism.<ref>http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/news/file002.html</ref> This reflects the decline in the United States among non-scientists as well. |
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| | + | ==References== |
| | + | <references/> |
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| | + | [[Category:Scientists]] |
| | + | [[Category:Professions]] |