VOL. 35 ISSUE 2 | THE SCIENTIST 11FROM THE EDITORANDRZEJ KRAUZE
A
lthough it appears to be trying its damnedest, 2021 has
not yet sapped me of my hope that humanity can turn
a corner and put the horrors of 2020 in our rearview
mirror. As I’ve written in previous dispatches, what anchors me
to this hope is science.
Since the calendar turned, the COVID-19 pandemic has worsen-
ed; new, more-infectious SARS-CoV-2 variants are cropping up
around the globe; vaccine rollout has been slower than anticipat-
ed; and political division has reached a fever pitch here in the US.
But the steady pace of scientific discovery and development churns
on. And even with so many aspects of our lives and work bearing
the scars of 2020’s tumult (some wounds are indeed still fresh),
we at The Scientist, as well as those in the research community we
serve and like-minded members of the general public, continue to
look to science, reason, and fact as the keys that will deliver us into
a more peaceful existence.
One must keep in mind that I write these editorials weeks
before you have the opportunity to read them. For example, I
sit to write this piece in the middle of January, but you’re read-
ing this on or after it is published on February 1. In normal times,
this makes it difficult to encapsulate and comment on the zeit-
geist of the current moment. These days, with things happening
at such a frenetic pace, this task becomes nigh on impossible.
By contrast, there’s something downright comforting about
following an enterprise that proceeds at a stable rate and that
tends to build slowly, one insight adding to preceding ones to
form an ever-clearer picture of reality. That’s not to say science
can’t or doesn’t surprise us. To be sure, there have been many
great leaps in humanity’s understanding of the world facilitated
by the research enterprise. And scientists have certainly made
ground-shaking discoveries throughout history. But by and large,
scientific progress is made by the millimeter, not the kilometer.
Science provides the stability that the world so desperately
needs right now. Revealing the truths underlying biology,
chemistry, astronomy, physics, and other aspects of our uni-
verse must remain unimpeded by the turbulence that may
surround us. And those truths can serve as antidotes to the mis-
information that has become a regrettable constant in our
modern consciousness.
While I cannot predict what might happen in the time
between when I pen this editorial and when you read it, I can
forecast that the quest for truth, which rests at the foundation
of the human experience, will continue to propel our species
forward. As long as a sufficient number of us stand up, repeat-edly and consistently, to voice the importance of science and
fact, we can hope that the infrastructure designed to support
research efforts will continue to do so. And although I can’t be
sure that the divisiveness that marks so much of our social and
political discourse these days will ever be reckoned with and
healed, I can’t think of a better starting point to move forward
into an increasingly uncertain future than a shared respect for
and trust in science. JEditor-in-Chief
[email protected]Revealing the truths underlying biology,
chemistry, astronomy, physics, and other
aspects of our universe must remain un-
impeded by the turbulence that may surround
us. And those truths can serve as antidotes
to the misinformation that has become a regret-
table constant in our modern consciousness.This year has started out in a fashion that is sadly similar to the way 2020 unspooled.
But the steady pace of scientific discovery helps maintain our sense of hope.BY BOB GRANTFeeling the Foundation