Admittedly, scientific authority is not distributed evenly throughout the body of scientists; some distinguished members of the profession predominate over others of a more junior standing.

Moreover, only a strong and united scientific opinion imposing the intrinsic value of scientific progress on society at large can elicit the support of scientific inquiry by the general public.

People [in Australia] don't see it as a business. We regard ourselves as a profession run by doctors, scientists, technicians and nurses.

The process of philosophic and scientific enlightenment has shaken the stability of beliefs held explicitly as articles of faith.

Others think it the responsibility of scientists to coerce the rest of society, because they have the power that derives from special knowledge.

These maxims and the art of interpreting them may be said to constitute the premisses of science but I prefer to call them our scientific beliefs. These premisses or beliefs are embodied in a tradition, the tradition of science.