An interview with science historian Richard Carrier.

It's not enough to know that a nutcracker works; a scientist needs to know why. Historian Richard Carrier recounts how, in ancient Greece, pondering the nutcracker led to the physics of levers. He describes how Aristotle and others shaped the beginnings of Western scientific thought: the notion that knowledge of the natural world relies on being able to question, test, reproduce and improve the accuracy of what's believed to be true. He explains why he sees science as a practice rooted in values, how it protects us from our own erroneous tendencies, and why questioning authority helps foster scientific thinking.