Science and the Tao

I was told many times, that Science and Taoism are very different, almost opposite ways of perceiving the world. So why is it that the philosophy of the Tao as well as Buddhist philosophy seems to be so appealing to many scientists? I think what we have here is a misunderstanding. The word "science" originates from Latin "scientia" and means nothing else but knowledge. Now as we all know our old sage Lao Tsu was critical about the never ending quest for knowledge. My personal impression is that he mainly means "applied knowledge", the kind of knowledge we use to trick nature and change the world to out liking. It happens now that the word "Science" was rarely used, and the profession of "Scientist" did not exist until the 20th century. People like Humboldt or Einstein, Kant and Planck, Heisenberg, Schroedinger and Haldane, did not so much perceive themselves as "Scientists" but as "Natural Philosophers". Now what do we have here? We have a word that we can joyfully translate as "Lovers of Natural Wisdom". Couldn't we also say "lovers of the Tao"? But to my utter dismay these elders and sages of science are a severely threatened species, and it is not likely that many new members of this rare breed will appear. A love for natures wisdom, a love for the Tao, is nothing that is paid well, nothing that is tolerated on a résumé, nothing that is required by college examination boards. Current scientists have become little more than technical personnel employed for military or profit purposes. But if we talk to some of the old scientists or read through their late writings, we realize that the thought worlds of a Freeman Dyson, a late Carl Sagan, a Carl Friedrich v. Weizsäcker or a James Lovelock have more in common with Taoism, than with the so called "modern" western ways. Not bound by nations or ideologies, they are our elders, and we should maybe sometimes listen to what they have to say - for example in the 1992 "Warning to the World" that was signed by the worlds 1500 senior scholars. We should keep in mind that i n principle both - Science and Taoism - are originally concerned with the real word as it is. Modern (especially industrial) scientists unfortunately often forget that the real world does not only consist of data and technology.