Which one of the following statements best reflects the thinking of the author about the science?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) Science must pursue truth but be responsible for social welfare.
The author contrasts the older view, in which the only duty of science was to tell the truth, with today’s accepted view that science has a social responsibility. Science should therefore pursue truth and also answer for social welfare.
- ✗ (a) The commitment of scientists is not the author’s theme.
- ✗ (b) The passage does not call science a product of civilized society, and it says nothing about promoting scientific awareness.
- ✗ (c) The passage says the idea of science as a social enterprise began at the industrial revolution; it does not say that science made the revolution possible.
- ✓ (d) Newton and Galileo acknowledged only the duty ‘to tell the truth’, while ‘We take it for granted now that science has a social responsibility.’ Truth together with social responsibility is the author’s view.
Remember · When a passage contrasts an older view with the present one, the answer often keeps the old duty and adds the new one.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·