What is Science?
Why this class is called “The Way of Science” is becoming clearer to me. I am learning that there is a particular process to finding scientific results called the scientific method. That Science is the accumulation of data that has been tested and re-tested through observation and experiments, and that Science can explain the phenomenon of the physical and natural world.
I would like to start with the actual definition of science as obtained from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/science
Science is an intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
I would like to show that there are differences between what a scientist does and the accumulated base of knowledge known as Science. I would also like to show the differences between Science and everything else which is either non-science or pseudoscience.
What you and I refer to as science is the activity of a scientists working alone or together to draw conclusions from the natural world. The work of these scientist sometimes conflict each other and sometimes they support each other. Looking back as far as we can to the beginning of scientific thought by humans, there has always been changes to the way we see the world and to who agrees on how a particular process works. There are, however, a set of stated and unstated scientific principles known as the scientific method.
Here is a brief example of the scientific method used to explore a scientific query or hypothesis:
1. Start by asking a question of the natural world
2. Then perform research on that question
3. Form an educated guess or hypothesis
4. Test your hypothesis thro...
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...rs from the questions that arise.
Now the process from which Science comes from science is clouded in mystery and can only be considered an empirical fact than a fully recognized and understood process. We must also understand that the work of scientists is science and not Science. A piece of work is started by a scientist, who then puts their information out into the scientific world, where it becomes a target for modification, verification, and falsification. Most scientific work rarely even causes a ripple in the grand scheme of things, but in some fortunate cases a scientist's work may stimulate further activity or even become adopted as an important addition, and eventually may surface usually with modifications into Science. The consequential point is that once a result has emerged and reached the stature of Science it is no longer owned by its originator.
Science is a study that can be viewed and interpreted in various ways. Some believe science to be based on facts and specific results, while others believe it to be based on creativity and spontaneity. In his account of the 1918 flu epidemic, The Great Influenza, John M. Barry characterizes scientific research as work that requires creativity, spontaneity, and intelligence through his use of rhetorical devices such as allusions, metaphors, and rhetorical questions.
The overall goal of science is to be able to gain an understanding of the phenomena being studied by conducting different scientific investigations that create knowledge that qualifies one or more of the three levels of understanding.
It can also be opinionated. Scientists observe and experiment in order to prove or disprove something. Religionists only have to believe and put faith into God. Sometimes religion and science are exclusive to each other because they have a different perspective on certain topics. For example, scientists claim that it was the Big Bang that created the universe.
Science is the knowledge gained by a systematic study, knowledge which then becomes facts or principles. In the systematic study; the first step is observation, the second step hypothesis, the third step experimentation to test the hypothesis, and lastly the conclusion whether or not the hypothesis holds true. These steps have been ingrained into every student of science, as the basic pathway to scientific discovery. This pathway holds not decision as to good or evil intention of the experiment. Though, there are always repercussions of scientific experiments. They range from the most simplistic realizations of the difference between acid and water to the principle that Earth is not the center of the Universe. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein depicts this very difference in the story of Victor Frankenstein. A scientist who through performing his experiments creates a monster which wreaks havoc upon humanity. Frankenstein concentrating wholly upon discovery ignores the consequences of his actions.
Throughout the movie The Awakening, Robin Williams demonstrates his knowledge of the scientific method. The scientific method is a procedure of steps that is used to prove problems. In the movie it is used to show that patients suffering from an un-named disorder do have a slight opportunity to return to their normal state of being. The scientific method is a list of steps to prove something and make into a law or theory based on your final product and findings.
The Scientific Method is the standardized procedure that scientists are supposed to follow when conducting experiments, in order to try to construct a reliable, consistent, and non-arbitrary representation of our surroundings. To follow the Scientific Method is to stick very tightly to a order of experimentation. First, the scientist must observe the phenomenon of interest. Next, the scientist must propose a hypothesis, or idea in which the experiments will be based around. Then, through repeated experimentation, the hypothesis can either be proven false or become a theory. If the hypothesis is proven to be false, the scientist must reformulate his or her ideas and come up with another hypothesis, and the experimentation begins again. This process is to be repeated until a theory is produced. The production of a theory is usually called the conclusion. After considerable testing of the theory, it may become what is known as a law, but laws are only formed in very rare occasions where the theory can be proven without a doubt, which is usually done through induction.
Science is a word that carries with it many meanings - knowledge, truth, a process of examination. But when it comes to setting a clear definition of the term, difficulties arise. Certainly physics is science, and theology isn't. But many disciplines are less intuitively dichotomized, such as the fields of psychology, history, ethics, and many others. Are these sciences?
Science has played a significant role in the development of society. Other world views, such as Hum...
What is the main difference between science and other types of knowledge? The answer to this question is simple: methodology. Science is not the usual techno-electronic and green-blue colored liquids that one perceives when hearing the word “science” but it as simple as a method. The method of scientific logic, deduction and logical reasoning is what classifies knowledge into science. All other types are known as non-scientific bodies of knowledge, some types of which are unorganized and unrelated to the natural world.
Anything that can be studied is absolutely considered a science. When people think of science and the scientific method they most often think of chemicals. Human experiment’s can also be conducted and considered scientific. The scientific method can be used to study people. Simply start by asking a question, doing background research, and then constructing a hypothesis. When studying people or their culture you can absolutely start with these simple steps, therefore using science to study these people. After determining your hypothesis, you can test it with an experiment, record your results and form a conclusion. “Science is the best system yet devised for reducing subjective bias, error, untruths, lies, and frauds.” (Harris, 1994, Pg. 6) Harris states that using science is they best way to prevent errors or miscalculations. We use science everyday; to assess every situation, and every problem that we have, even when we don’t think we a...
Science is the observation of natural events and conditions in order to discover facts about them and to formulate laws and principles based on these facts. Academic Press Dictionary of Science & Technology --------------------------------------------------------------------- Science is an intellectual activity carried on by humans that is designed to discover information about the natural world in which humans live and to discover the ways in which this information can be organized into meaningful patterns. A primary aim of science is to collect facts (data).
Induction is at the foundation of science, but the awareness come with a paradox because now laws and theories are questioned. Induction uses the individual facts. The imagination of a scientist allows the discovery of laws and theories. There is no single method to use to reach conclusions. The teaching of science now works against creative science which makes science dry and uninteresting to students. Shiela Tobias thinks that students do not want to do something science related as a career because they are not given an opportunity to see science as exciting and
The human sciences and natural sciences are considered knowledge by many worldwide, as their arguments having convinced people one way or another. While the natural sciences focus on swaying belief by showing duplicable evidence through a strict and standardized methodology, the human sciences focus on explaining how things are and how they came to be using logic, reason, and an understanding of human behavior.
Science is everywhere; you always see it in every day life. Like when you get a ride to school from your parents, watch TV, talk on the phone, and listen to music, that’s using science. When you pass buildings science was used to build them.
All these doubts could not be answered on their own. Some people had to do research on specific subjects, they had to observe them and after a lot of work on it they had to present the results. They got experience in resolving problems of humanity and so science appeared. Nowadays, science is involved in every aspect of our life, even in subjects that we can not imagine. We can see remarkable examples of scientific achievements in technology and also in society, but they will be analyzed in the next chapters.