Mock on, Mock on, William Blake

Mock on, Mock on: Ōtis all in vain!

Though science you dislike

Beneficial it has been

 

Newton, Democritus, Voltaire, Rousseau

All challenged the common view

Led by example, others did the same

Without them where would we be today?

To you they mock the beams divine

But why canÕt both live harmoniously?

 

Voltaire fought for religious tolerance

And was a proponent of observation and proof

While Rousseau fought corrupt politics

Putting morality above all else

Together they overthrew a stale monarchy

And gave the French their inalienable rights

 

Newton discovered the principles of mechanics

Which govern all physics and engineering

From constant gravity and particles of light

To the laws of motion and F=ma

It was his invention of the telescope that

Sparked our feverish curiosity of the universe

 

Democritus and his invisible atoms

And visionary views on the natural world

Led to advancements in material composition

And revolutions in chemistry and electricity

Each man a different contribution

Together they founded the thought and practice of science

 

From Medicine to chemistry to biology to physics

And evolution to genetics to astronomy to earth science

To you these mock the beams divine

But why canÕt both live harmoniously?

 

That the earth revolves around the sun

That other planets and solar systems exist

To the shuttle carrying men into space

And strolling the surface of the moon

 

From understanding anatomy,

To X-rays diagnosing what you canÕt see,

From performing life saving surgery,

To doing it pain free with anesthesia,

Diseases like smallpox used to run wild

Now a vaccine makes you immune for life

Bacterial infections that used to be deadly

Antibiotics like Penicillin handle quickly and easily

 

First MendelÕs peas and heredity

Now high yield crops that let us feed more easily

First learning that genes are on chromosomes

Now manipulating them to make medicine

First discovering DNA is a double helix

Now it brings justice as inarguable evidence

Now the human genome is sequenced

Next cancer and AlzheimerÕs will be cured

 

Today society and science move as one

Living symbiotically

To you these mock the beams divine

Why canÕt both live harmoniously?

 

Mock on, Mock on, William Blake

ItÕs you who is blind.

Mock on, Mock on, never with an open mind