[reply to aldridge@netcom.com (Jacquelin Aldridge)]
 
 
The acquisition of scientific knowledge is completely scientific.  The
application of that knowledge in individual cases may be more art than
science.
 
 
Certainly we don't have all the answers.  The question is, what is the
most reliable means of acquiring further medical knowledge?  The
scientific method has proven itself to be reliable.  The *only* reason
alternative therapies are shunned by physicians is that their
practitioners refuse to submit their theories to rigorous scientific
scrutiny, insisting that "tradition" or anecdotal evidence are
sufficient.  These have been shown many times in the past to be very
unreliable ways of acquiring reliable knowledge.  Crook's ideas have
never been backed up by scientific evidence.  His unwillingness to do
good science makes the rest of us doubt the veracity of his contentions.