Theater in which Harvey dissected cadavers while eager students peered downward from tiers of overhanging balconies.
eds., 1997) Expert Evidence: A Practitioner’s Guide to Law, Science, and the FJC Manual (Bert Black & Patrick W. See, e.g., 1 & 2 Modern Scientific Evidence: The Law and Science of Expert Testimony (David L. Since publication of the first edition of this manual, a number of works have been developed to assist judges and attorneys in understanding a wide range of scientific evidence. Robertson et al., Reference Guide on Engineering, in this manual.Ģ. For a discussion of the difficulty in distinguishing between science and engineering, see Channing R. Berger, The Admissibility of Expert Testimony, Sections II–III, IV.A, in this manual. These Supreme Court decisions are discussed in Margaret A.
If you visit the University of Padua today and tour the old campus at the heart of the city, you will be shown Galileo’s cattedra, the wooden pulpit from which he lectured (and curiously, one of his vertebrae in a display case just outside the rector’s office-maybe the rector needs to be reminded to have a little spine).
The trial of Galileo is usually portrayed as a conflict between science and the Roman Catholic Church, but it was, after all, a trial, with judges and lawyers, and all the other trappings of a formal legal procedure.Īnother great scientist of the day, William Harvey, who discovered the circulation of blood, worked not only at the same time as Galileo, but also at the same place-the University of Padua, not far from Venice. Nonetheless, in 1633, Galileo was put on trial for his scientific teachings. A bit later, after hearing about the newly invented telescope, he made one for himself, and with it he made discoveries in the heavens that astonished and thrilled all of Europe. While Shakespeare was composing his sonnets and penning his plays in England, Galileo Galilei in Italy was inventing the idea that careful experiments in a laboratory could reveal universal truths about the way objects move through space. Almost immediately, it came into conflict with the law. Modern science can reasonably be said to have come into being during the time of Queen Elizabeth I of England and William Shakespeare. I hope the reader will accept this chapter in that spirit.
In the hope of accomplishing these tasks, I take a mildly irreverent look at some formidable subjects. 2 The purpose of this chapter is not to resolve the practical difficulties that judges will encounter in reaching those decisions it is to demystify somewhat the business of science and to help judges understand the Daubert decision, at least as it appears to a scientist. 1 Some judges may not be entirely comfortable making such decisions, despite the guidance supplied by the Court and illuminated by learned commentators. Recent Supreme Court decisions have put judges in the position of having to decide what is scientific and what is not.