Compatibility and Consensus

Abstract

Medicine shows two faces to the world—the scientific (discovery) and the technological (practice)—interdependent activities that demand compatibility if each is to endure and grow. Science builds on hypothesis, study, validation. Practice requires art—the wisdom to apply knowledge to an individual, a group, or a community so as to achieve optimum results. The interdependence of science and technology in medicine can be demonstrated anecdotally. Using principles of basic science derived from physics, a microscope was constructed. There followed remarkable advances in knowledge about tissue structure and microscopic life, advances which in turn fostered new technological achievements. For many years the science of medicine involved mainly recognition and classification of diseases which, for the most part, could not be treated specifically except when a surgical procedure sufficed. Now, in terms of scientific achievement, medicine has grown enormously. Its science in turn has advanced technological developments thereby increasing the visibility of medicine's performances.