The average mediocre carpenter applies more science in a week than most people who work in laboratories apply in a year. If he or she is not using science to repair you car, you should not drive it. If he or she does not apply the scientific method, your appliances will not get fixed. Our greatest scientific contributions come from tradespeople. In fact, people who work in laboratories are usually trying to keep their discoveries a secret.
Tradespeople are responsible for the maintenance of society.
If you do not think that this is true, take a trip to South Carolina and see who is rebuilding the communities that were hit by hurricane Hugo. Or go to the San Francisco area and see who is needed to rebuild after the earthquake. There was a time when having a trade was considered a valuable asset. Yet, in reality, tradespeople must apply very specific scientific principles in order to achieve the results that they and everyone else are looking for. Educators so devalue the work of tradespeople that they do not consider people who work outside of laboratories as scientists.