Art or science? Understanding medicine and the common law

Those of you who have either had or seen the process of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan cannot fail to be impressed with the scientific or technologic marvel of this huge diagnostic machinery. After a relatively noisy series of manoeuvres, the machine turns out a beautiful set of images on film. That is the science. What happens next, though, is that the films are given to a radiologist who gazes at them, puzzles for awhile and then gives an opinion on what they might mean. That is the art.