またまた、Stuart Firestein の本からの引用。
If an outcome can be reliably predicted from a limited amount of starting information, then you have gained an understanding of an underlying principle, of the rules governing this bit of the universe. A particular set of genes predicts the likely color of your hair or eyes; two massive bodies at a certain distance will orbit each other with a particular period. These are all instances where knowing the underlying mechanism allows you to make reliable predictions about outcomes. In science, predicting is knowing.
