by Edward F. Allen
My remarks will consist of four parts. The Introduction will briefly recite how “chance” came into the scientific picture and that but not how statistics have developed over the years. Because of technical difficulties I cannot tell you how physics came to depend upon statistics to such an extent in quantum mechanics, but in Part II I will try to give you in their own words some of the ideas of the creators of modern physics on the pros and cons of chance- in-principle.There is a corollary to the chance-in-principle concept, that teleological or purposeful explanations of nature ought to be discarded. I shall give an example using biology and the history of architecture illustrating this in Part III. And finally after this somewhat negative approach in Parts II and III, as a conclusion in Part IV, I shall try to recite some gains or good effects that may be derived from the elements referred to in Parts II and III.
