What is the ultimate purpose of science? This question has challenged some of the most profound scholars of the past. It is of increasing【B1】today, not only to practicing research scientists but to nonscientists【B2】. The two groups often【B3】very different answers. This is not surprising,【B4】the average person is【B5】by the marvelous consequences that science itself can bring forth: the launching of a manned space vehicle, or the creation of a nuclear weapon【B6】completely【B7】only decades ago.【B8】gigantic efforts, involving an entire nation's economic and technological【B9】and utilizing the skills of thousands of scientists and engineers, are widely publicized and become【B10】the real purpose of scientific investigation.【B11】any one-sided view【B12】be misleading, and this one is no【B13】. How do scientists themselves regard their professional aims? A great majority of scientists【B14】that they are motivated by a desire to search for truth. Science is a structure of many interlocking disciplines, its growth【B15】man's imagination and his compelling desire to understand his environment and himself. The basic compulsion to learn may reveal vast new horizons, end【B16】, or produce agreeable or terrifying byproducts, but【B17】science will fulfill its purpose. For we can say that nothing happens in nature without a reason and the basic reason is【B18】of the species,【B19】implies continuing evolution and improvement. Man's destiny is control of his environment, and the methods he employs are ultimately only【B20】to an end. 【B1】