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The American
Tentative Society
Today, I want to talk about
a most exciting scientific
development - the founding
of The American Tentative
Society. When they first hear
the name, people are in
clined to exclaim “whaaat?”
But the purpose of the
society is serious. Note these
comments of one of the
founders:
“There is a hazard when
we leam anything. It’s the
danger we may stick some
‘fact’ away in the attic of our
brain and let cobwebs gather
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Saturday, Sept. 21, 1974
Doctor
in the Kitchen 0
by Laurence M. Hursh, M.D.
Consultant, National Dairy Council
around it. We may resist the
challenge when new
developments might enrich
our understanding and show
that earlier information is
not longer valid.
“We may become
prisoners of our own dogma,
stuck with our yesterdays.
We may become arrogant in
defense of some outmoded
‘truth’. Scientists, among
others, can be guilty of sins
against reason.”
Open-mindedness
Sought
According to the founders,
the above thoughts are
partly why three science
writers founded The
American Tentative Society.
They are determined to do
whatever they can to make
scientists and the lay public
alike more aware of the
fruits to be gained through
open-mindedness. If
everyone will remember and
practice the knowledge that
science is “incorrigibly
tentative,’’ science and the
public will be far better off.
Arrogance and undue
adamancy will wither in
favor of humility in the
search for truth, truth at
least for now.
The American Tentative
Society is not a group that
you can join - at least not that
I know of. Nor do they need
your money. They have
enough for now, thanks to the
will of one of the founders,
Rennie Taylor, former San-
Francisco-based Associated
•y
• Ido's .
i Notebo° k
».»>* f
This summer I and My
children had a chance to
peep at a house in a deep
woods. It is a deserted house
with “no trespassing” signs
Press science writer, who
died last year. Rennie, ac
cording to his friends, lived
modestly, but invested
prudently and was thus able
to finance at least the initital
projects of the organization.
General Directions
Outlined
The beginning ATS
projects are not yet known
but the philosophy of the
society is bound to touch our
lives. ATS’s purpose, to wit:
“The specific and primary
purposes for which this
corporation is formed are
the promotion of education
by the advancement of
knowledge through the
production- and issemination
of written, filmed, and tape
recorded materials repor
ting on, explaining, and
interpreting scientific in
formation in the various
fields for the benefit of
writers, educators, students,
and the general public.”
One must wish this new
group well and great suc
cess. Just as this column
observed last week that the
public should not be unduly
alarmed by possible but
unlikely developments, so
should scientists and the
public keept their minds
open to new information. We
all can benefit from change
wisely judged and applied.
\*4\
Ida Risser
posted and so we stood afar
and looked at this building
from the past.
It is located in the Welsn
Mountains and always had a
quaint charm for me ever
since I picked huckleberries
nearby. I learned to know the
old man who lived there with
his aged mother. They had
lovely flower gardens and a
round walled-up well with a
wooden bucket and rope
which they enjoyed showing
to us. Their one cow wore a
huge bell which clanked
continually as she was free
to roam.
The former occupants are
dead and gone and only the
house stands to excite the
curiosity of passers-by.
Talking about long ago
reminds me of the manner in
which my aunt swept the rag
carpet in her kitchen each
morning. First she took wet
coffee grounds and scattered
them on the floor and then
she took up the broom and
swept. I believe the idea was
to keep down the dust.
Whether this was common
practice with other folks I
don’t know.
My grandmother’s garden
had sunken walkways in the
old tradition which were
usually muddy because they
were so low. And on the hot
mornings when I sat out
there to pull tobacco plants
one of the pleasures to look
forward to was the big pit
cher of lemonade which she
invariably brought us.
Nothing since then has
tasted better.
Mentioning taste brings
another thought to mind.
This is the practice of storing
surplus eggs in “water glass’
or a sodium silicate and
water solution. I’m so glad
we no longer need do this as I
felt the eggs were scarcely
fit for baking.