“And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven:
this travail has God given to the sons of man to be execercised therewith”.
Ecclesiastes I, 13
Essential Evolution and Nature of Science
In its simplest and etymological form, science means “knowledge”; “knowledge gained by methodical study”.
Even though mankind continuously has gathered “knowledge” over time through trial and error at first, and later through precept, “knowledge gained by study and reasoning” is of more recent origin.
"...without a cause, nothing can be created." Plato, Timaeus
Introduction
The present essay was drafted over a long period of time. Its form and content kept on changing since the early 70's when I had the ambition to formulate a sort of "philosophy of life" through a series of sketches on various subjects.
Yesterday, Fidel Castro wrote a column entitled "Reflections of Compañero Fidel" (Newsmax.com of February 22, 2008) and this has made me reflect on Fidel's un-suspected and un-expected influence on my own views and life. I will not bother with well known and documented episodes like the Bay of Pigs, or the Missile Crisis, or even the Iran-Contra affairs, but rather tell about facts and conjectures related to my consultant's life.