what is the meaning of the quote "look at those cows and remember that
the greatest scientists in the world have never discovered how to make
grass into milk", quoted by michael pupin?

As Mr. Pupin died in 1935, we cannot ask him directly. We'll have to
look at the scientific community and issues happening when he wrote
them.

In the 1920s, science was young, and attacked regularly by various
faiths as being against god(1). Mr. Pupin was a Jewish scientist and
professor (2), devoted to understanding the world around him. He won
the 1924 Pulitzer Prize for his book "From Immigrant to Inventor", and
followed it up with the book "New Reformation: From Physical to
Spiritual Realities", in 1928.

Taking this into consideration, it would seem that he was cautioning
the scientists around him against arrogance -- encouraging them to
look with humility upon the simple creature, and see that even as much
as science could explain, it could not then explain what is a very
simple and common process -- for a cow. I believe it was a call to
moderation and balance between the scientific and religious
communities, though in more modern times, it might be seen as a
similar call for understanding between scientific and environmental
groups.

(1) http://www.courttv.com/greatesttrials/scopes/versus.html (a most
famous example)
(2) https://www1.columbia.edu/sec/bboard/993/hist3464-001/msg00345.html

Both of his books are available from Amazon and may provide more
insight into his beliefs if you're interested:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author=Pupin%2C%20Michael/103-6507981-7295833

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Request for Answer Clarification by karina1102-ga on 02 Jul 2002 18:58 PDT

I would like more examples relating to this quote, perhaps several
illustrations so one can understand the quote better

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Clarification of Answer by zerocattle-ga on 02 Jul 2002 20:27 PDT

I'm sorry, what you ask for isn't available as far as I can find. The
concept is believed to be "understood", and is used as an example, and
is not explained further in any online sources.

For further illustration of the concept, I'll have to pull away from
Mr. Pupin's own words and look to the examples that you can see in
many religious tracts, such as:

"Science has man worshipping himself. I tuned into a science show on
PBS a couple years ago. "Man is god" intoned the narrator. That is
undiluted New Age thought at public expense. Where is separation of
church and state when you want it? Consider just how ugly that claim
is. It's arrogant. Let me remind you that no scientist has yet turned
grass into milk in the laboratory! Where is the glory of God? If we
are proud of what we accomplish making computers, how much more should
we be proud of God who made our far more versatile and
self-replicating minds."

from: http://www.rae.org/noscience.html

Other religions use the same term (exactly) to illustrate the divine
nature of existence:

"The objector says that as grass becomes milk, so Pradhana may evolve
into the world. But does grass become milk of its own power? No. If
so, try to produce milk from grass. A cow alone converts grass into
milk. Does a bull do so?

"The spontaneous modification of the Pradhana is not possible. Grass
is not changed into milk spontaneously. It is converted into milk only
when eaten by cows but not by the bulls. Here also it is the will of
the Supreme Lord that brings about the change, not because the cow has
eaten it.
       
"The illustration or analogy is useless. It cannot stand. The argument
of the Sankhyas is not sound. Hence, the Pradhana’s undergoing
modification   of itself cannot be accepted. The spontaneous
modification of Pradhana cannot be proved from the instances of grass
and the like."

from: http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/bs_2/bs_2-2-01.html

However, Mr. Pupin was a famous, accredited scientist, and taught
science in a major US University. He _believed_ in science, committed
his life to the study of science, so it is not possibly that he meant
that science was against religion (as these tracts imply). One must
conclude, as I did, that he meant it as a caution, not a limitation of
science, nor a condemnation.

I hope that helps!

:) zerocattle-ga

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