Leaders | Problems with scientific research

How science goes wrong

Scientific research has changed the world. Now it needs to change itself

A SIMPLE idea underpins science: “trust, but verify”. Results should always be subject to challenge from experiment. That simple but powerful idea has generated a vast body of knowledge. Since its birth in the 17th century, modern science has changed the world beyond recognition, and overwhelmingly for the better.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “How science goes wrong”

How science goes wrong

From the October 19th 2013 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition
Paramilitary soldiers board a patrol boat as Indian tourists take boat rides on Dal Lake in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, April 25th 2025

India must prove Pakistan’s complicity in the attack in Kashmir

It would then have every right to strike back

A wire frame hand hooked up to a lie detector. The graph indicates lying

How to keep AI models on the straight and narrow

Interpretability techniques are powerful, but must be used with care


An African migrant holds a European Union flag on board a ferry to Algeciras, Spain

Africans need jobs. The rest of the world needs workers

Migration from Africa is a mega-trend that transcends today’s populist surge


How Canada went from preachy to pragmatic

On the eve of an election, its political transformation is stunning

The man Britain cannot ignore

Nigel Farage’s return means a new, more volatile era in British politics

Trump is a revolutionary. Will he succeed?

He has already done lasting harm to America