"Robert A. Heinlein - The Man who sold the Moon (collected sto" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

"Very well. You may proceed."
"I will stipulate that many persons have cancelled life insurance policies
as a result thereof, but I challenge them to show that anyone so doing has
suffered any loss or damage there from. It is true that the Amalgamated has
lost business through my activities, but that is the natural result of my
discovery, which has made their policies as obsolete as the bow and arrow. If
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an injunction is granted on that ground, I shall set up a coal oil lamp factory,
then ask for an injunction against the Edison and General Electric companies
to forbid them to manufacture incandescent bulbs."
"I will stipulate that I am engaged in the business of making predictions
of death, but I deny that I am practicing magic, black, white, or rainbow
colored. If to make predictions by methods of scientific accuracy is illegal,
then the actuaries of the Amalgamated have been guilty for years in that they
predict the exact percentage that will die each year in any given large group.
I predict death retail; the Amalgamated predicts it wholesale. If their actions
are legal, how can mine be illegal?"
"I admit that it makes a difference whether I can do what I claim, or not;
and I will stipulate that the so-called expert witnesses from the Academy of
Science will testify that I cannot. But they know nothing of my method and
cannot give truly expert testimony on it."
"Just a moment, Doctor. Mr. Weems, is it true that your expert
witnesses are not conversant with Dr. Pinero's theory and methods?"
Mr. Weems looked worried. He drummed on the table top, then
answered, "Will the Court grant me a few moments indulgence?"
"Certainly."
Mr. Weems held a hurried whispered consultation with his cohorts, then
faced the bench. "We have a procedure to suggest, Your Honor. If Dr. Pinero
will take the stand and explain the theory and practice of his alleged method,
then these distinguished scientists will be able to advise the Court as to the
validity of his claims."
The judge looked inquiringly at Pinero, who responded, "I will not
willingly agree to that. Whether my process is true or false, it would be
dangerous to let it fall into the hands of fools and quacks" he waved his hand
at the group of professors seated in the front row, paused and smiled
maliciously "as these gentlemen know quite well. Furthermore it is not
necessary to know the process in order to prove that it will work. Is it
necessary to understand the complex miracle of biological reproduction in
order to observe that a hen lays eggs? Is it necessary for me to reeducate
this entire body of self-appointed custodians of wisdom - cure them of their
ingrown superstitions - in order to prove that my predictions are correct?
There are but two ways of forming an opinion in science. One is the scientific
method; the other, the scholastic. One can judge from experiment, or one
can blindly accept authority. To the scientific mind, experimental proof is all
important and theory is merely a convenience in description, to be junked
when it no longer fits. To the academic mind, authority is everything and facts
are junked when they do not fit theory laid down by authority."
"It is this point of view-academic minds clinging like oysters to
disproved theories-that has blocked every advance of knowledge in history. I
am prepared to prove my method by experiment, and, like Galileo in another