Beyond Reductionism

“All science is either physics or stamp collecting” (attributed to Lord Rutherford). Few, if any, of us subscribe to the view that all real scientific puzzles boil down to a question of physics. Nonetheless, the quotation above focuses in a brave (if extreme) way on a hard, practical issue: how the different fields of science relate to one another. The predominant approach is reductionist: Questions in physical chemistry can be understood in terms of atomic physics, cell biology in terms of how biomolecules work, and organisms in terms of how their component cell systems interact. We have the best of reasons for taking this reductionist approach—it works. It has been the key to gaining useful information since the dawn of Western science and is deeply embedded in our culture as scientists and beyond.