'A Delightful Irony'

I found the article by Irving M. Klotz describing the claims of postmodernist philosophers about the supposedly evanescent nature of scientific facts very interesting and enlightening (The Scientist, July 22, 1996, page 9). I have listened in incredulity as scientific colleagues have recounted the arguments of devotees of postmodernist philosophy, and come away feeling relieved that I have never had to contend with any of them personally.

The article by Klotz further heightens my amazement that any intelligent and educated person could embrace such ill-reasoned viewpoints, especially as revealed in the quotes Klotz provides from the published writings of postmodernists. He also sets out very lucid and compelling rebuttals to the postmodernist view that there is no such thing as a scientific fact, and that all claimed facts are the here-today, gone-tomorrow product of political, cultural, social, and religious forces.

I fear, however, that the well-reasoned and...