Jothar, I am not clear on what bracha you believe Rabbi Lamm thinks we should make upon entering a chem lab. If you have a verbatim source, I would like to see it.
I am wondering what the harm is in expanding the definition of Torah to include science, as well. Before everyone calls me an apikorus, please recall, didn’t we recently have a long thread where there were many who claimed that science is in Torah and that Chazal knew modern science? If one can learn science from Torah, why is it different than learning the chochma of the RBSH’s briya from a lab? Also, in Sanhedrin, we find that Rav spent 18 months on a farm to learn the difference between Mum Over and Mum Kavua. Isn’t that type of science considered limud hatorah?
Note that today we have a far more advanced framework of science than they did even 300 years ago. If the Rambam and Reb Saadiah Gaon and other Rishonim studied science and philosophy not for parnasa and it wasn’t bitul torah, then why is it a problem for us, especially if one wants to know Hashem’s briyah, and especially if he wants to cure an illness, thereby?