About the Axis of Horganism: This graph compares what thinkers say about the main idea advanced in The End of Science and "The Final Frontier": Those who are placed at the Horganism end (the bottom) agree that basic science is basically over; those who are at the Anti-Horganism end (the top) disagree, saying our most amazing discoveries lie ahead of us. Mouse over each person's name to read a short bio and quotes on Horganism. We will continue adding thinkers to the graph over the next several days.
Background: In 1996 science journalist John Horgan published The End of Science, a book arguing that after more than a century packed with truly revolutionary discoveries like the theories of evolution and relativity, basic science—the study of the fundamental nature of the universe—seemed to be sputtering out. We humans would probably never make another scientific discovery as momentous as quantum mechanics or the DNA double helix, he said.
Some scientists quickly slammed the work, saying science was perfectly healthy, even moving faster than ever before. "It was an idiotic book," said Stephen Jay Gould. "Garbage," added Stephen Hawking. Nobel Prize–winning physicist Philip Anderson chastised people in his field for giving over to what he called "Horganism," the foolishly pessimistic belief that science would soon end. Other scientists and thinkers found at least some truth in Horgan's theory; even before Horgan's book, some scientists had sadly forecast that the good times would not roll forever.
At the book's 10th anniversary, Horgan opened old wounds by writing a piece for Discover saying that the intervening years convinced him further that science's golden period was over, that we would see no more revolutionary findings. Now that the question's back on the table, Discover.com is launching the Axis of Horganism to compare different viewpoints on the reputed end of science.
Editorial Disclaimer: Placing people on the Axis of Horganism is an inherently subjective endeavor. We make no claims to having a perfect list, but we did aim to place people in keeping with their relevant thoughts on the matter, or at least their relevant quotes.
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Technical Disclaimer: The Axis may not work correctly on some browsers. It should work fine with all recent versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.
