WISE SCIENCE

for Nicholas Maxwell

    
     Our scientific knowledge has grown grand,

     Probing all aspects of the universe,
     Affording us the power to command
     Its very laws, for better or for worse;

     So lest we go awry, we must grow wise
     And scientists become philosophers
     Discerning how their knowledge best applies
     Before some dreadful accident occurs.

     Such circumspect intention must be taught
     All budding scientists, besides their fields,
     Lest some advanced discovery come to naught
     By an unintended consequence it yields.

          A little knowledge is a dangerous thing
          Unless it’s governed by wise reckoning.

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