IT MAY surprise Graham Kennish (SNJ August 5) that despite his hysterical tone I actually agree with much of what he says.

Thumbscrews indeed – does he really see himself as another Galileo?

Of course imagination has a place in science and scientific theories are always subject to revision.

Yes theories become beliefs, but beliefs which are to be held only until they are overturned by better theories.

It is this lack of arrogance, not always lived up to it is true, that makes science generally a progressive force.

In this it differs from the Steiner inspired anti-science of Messrs Kennish and House, which is locked into a backward looking superstitious view of the world.

I won’t quibble over whether atheism is a belief or a lack of belief.

I, like many atheists no doubt, would change my view given the evidence.

But what form could such evidence take given that the notion of a god is so abstract that at no point does it impact on the observable world?

So it is not something science can say much about but it can explain many things formerly attributed to such a god.

For me it is simply unnecessary, though I accept that for some it is a source of inspiration, for good or ill.

When it comes to matters such as homeopathy for which spiritual support is claimed, science has a great deal to say, it says that there is no plausible scientific mechanism by which homeopathy could work.

Now, if nonetheless it did work (beyond the placebo effect) then science would have a problem – perhaps big enough for one of Dr Houses’s beloved paradigm shifts.

But studies have shown repeatedly that it does not work, if by work you mean having a significant effect on the condition it is supposed to be treating rather than some imperceptible ‘spiritual’ effect.

It is in the continued assertion of such beliefs by placing them in a realm beyond evidence that the arrogance lies Mr Kennish.

I hope I have avoided humour sufficiently so as to not offend your delicate sensibilities.

Jim Watson

Selsley