IN THE STRUGGLE FOR TRUTH 67 should not interfere or opine on issues relating to theology. And thus by building for science an exaggerated autonomy from other social institutions, Drake is able to build the hypothesis that religion and science can be reconciled by separating the two and allowing each to pursue its independent path. For precisely this reason Drake can then obviate the necessity of analysing the implications of Galileo's recantation at the Inquisition. For Galileo's revolutionary spirit in creating a new science and the weakness he showed in the face of the powers that be, poses the question of the moral responsibility of the scientist. Isolating science lead1-, to treating it as an autonomous region which can then be utilised to serve the political, economic and ideological interests of the powers that be. By exaggerating the autonomy of research, what is actually practised is the autonomy of marketing this research. As finished products, scientific formulae like E==MC2 may not imply a value system of their own. But a Hiroshima shows what its social and moral implications are. Can the scientist working on the formulae absolve himself or remain immune to the social implications of his research? Does his personal moral conduct in any way influence the social contours of his research? Drake's interpretation is totally inadequate to provide answers to these questions. But what Galileo's story illustrates is that the cognitive process is conducted by living human beings in concrete social conditions and therefore each step in this process requires a revolution of the existing norms, opinions and values. Both in the very process of research and in the use that is made of its results, the scientist cannot stay aloof; he is forced to take positions. Galileo's life and work has the message that Brecht drew from it: "Truth will triumph only in so far as we triumph;the victory of reason can only be the victory of reasonable people".7 In the great battle of ideas we have to struggle to establish truth. Truth does not blaze its own trail. With his own strength, and frailty, Galileo struggled in his times. The battle is far from over. RAJENDRA PRASAD* 1 Ernst Cassierer, "Galileo: A New Science and New Spirit", in Alexander Vavoulis and A. Wayne Colver (ed.), Science and Society. Selected Essays, Ind.an Reprint, 1971, p 3. 2 Kant, Cntique ofPure Reason, p 20. 3 Cassierer, op cit, pp 4-5. 4 Quoted in Drake from Discoveries and Opinions, pp 237-238. 5 "The trouble is that the famous injunction was a forgery: a false record carefully planted by the Inquisitors in their secret file in case it might come *Editorial Staff, People's Democracy, New Delhi.