Quote from Ernst Mayr

I've been reading Ernst Mayr's This Is Biology: The Science of the Living World. In it there is this great quote:

It is often asked why we do science? Or, what is science good for? ... The insatiable curiosity of human beings, and the desire for a better understanding of the world they live in, is the primary reason for an interest in science by most scientists. It is based on the conviction that none of the philosophical or purely ideological theories of the world can compete in the long run with the understanding of the world produced by science.