That book reminds me of the deep ties between the mythology of science and the mythology of Christianity. It is argued that thr truest way to be a Christian in the classic sense is to experience atheism as Christ did when he was on the cross doubting god and his purpose. I'm absolutely butchering this, but essentially, it is through that absolute test of faith that Christ is able to renew and solidify his faith. There can be no true connection with god without first fully doubting him. (I'm not Christian, so I apologize if I messed this up too bad, please correct me if I did).

So with western science tradition, and through the scientific method, we are supposed to go through the same thing. Scienctific hypotheses and results are only validated through absolute doubt, and we only accept theories if they, despite exhaustive efforts, can not be disproved.

Hopefully, through this method, there are things from today that seem completely silly, because that means some serious science kept happening!