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SCIENCE: A Way of Knowing

I. The Role of Science:A. Making Choices

1. What gasoline to buy

2. What shampoo is best for my hair3. What pain relievers work for me4. Apply same thought process when we want to learn about a star or a living cell.

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SCIENCE: A Way of Knowing

B. Why study science? Newspaper headlines – weather, environmental issues,

earthquakes Powerful tool to understand how our world works and

how we interact with our physical surroundings Represents our best hope for predicting and coping

with natural disasters, curing diseases, discovering new technologies

Better prepared to incorporate these advances in your professional life and better understand process by which such advances are made

Consumer, tax payer, living being, parent

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SCIENCE: A Way of Knowing

The Scientific Method Observation

• Plato believed that only through the mind can we arrive at reason and truth

• Observing nature without manipulating it (ex. Astronomer)• Experiment – manipulating some aspect of nature and

observing the outcome (ex. Chemist) Identifying Patterns and Regularities

• Repeated observations – start to recognize patterns• Results of observations summarized in mathematical form

• Ex. Falling object

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SCIENCE: A Way of Knowing Mathematics, the Language of Science

• Concise language that allows them to communicate their results in compact form and allows them to make precise predictions about expected outcomes of expts. Or observations

Hypothesis and Theory• Hypothesis – educated guess• Theory – description of the world that covers large number of

phenomena and has met many observational and experimental tests

Prediction and Testing• A guess about how a particular system will behave followed by

observation to see if the system behaved as expected within a specified range of situations

• Every theory and law of nature is subject to change, based on new observations

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SCIENCE: A Way of Knowing The Scientific Method in Operation

• Endless cycle – observations lead to hypothesis which lead to more observations

• Scientists are not required to observe with an “open mind”• There is no right place to enter the cycle• Observations and experiments must be reported in a way

that results can be verified (reproducible)• Cycle is continuous

The Ongoing Process of Science: Biodiversity• Biodiversity – number of different species that coexist at a

given place

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SCIENCE: A Way of Knowing Science in the Making: Dimitri Mendeleev and the

Periodic Table• Chemistry professor at Technological Institute of St.

Petersburg, Russia, developed the periodic table in 1869• Arranged list of elements (63) by increasing atomic

weights• He realized that elements with similar chemical properties

appeared at regular or periodic intervals. The Science of Life: William Harvey and the Blood’s

circulation• He gave us our current picture of the pattern of

circulation.• Blood is pumped from the heart to the body through

arteries and returned to heart through veins.

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SCIENCE: A Way of Knowing

Other Ways of Knowing Different Kinds of Questions

• The scientific method is not the only way to answer questions.

• What is the meaning of life?• Is there a God?• What career should I choose?

Pseudoscience• A kind of inquiry falling in the realm of belief or

digma which includes subjects that cannot be proved or disproved.

• Ex: UFO’s, Astrology, ESP

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SCIENCE: A Way of Knowing Science by the Numbers: Astrology

• Belief that positions of objects in the sky at a given time (ex. Person’s birth) determine a person’s future.

The Organization of Science The Divisions of Science

• Field researchers – observe nature at work• Experimentalists – manipulate nature with controlled

expts.• Theorists – spend their time imagining universes

that might exist.

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SCIENCE: A Way of Knowing The Branches of Science

• Physics – search for laws that describe matter, energy, forces, motion, heat, light

• Chemistry – study of atoms in combination• Astronomy – study of stars, planets and other

objects in space• Geology – study of origin, evolution and present

state of earth• Biology – study of living systems

The Web of knowledge• Intricate spider web

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SCIENCE: A Way of Knowing

Basic Research, Applied Research, Technology•Basic Research – finding out how the

world works; in knowledge for its own sake•Applied Research – develop technology

in which they apply results of science to specific commercial or industrial goals

•R & D – ideas developed by applied research translated into practical systems

•Technology transfer – large-scale production

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SCIENCE: A Way of Knowing

Technology:SETI@Home• Search for Extraterrestial Intelligence

Funding for Science• Table 1-3• Federal budget for R & D in 2002 was 100 billion

dollars• Scientists seeking for research submit grant

proposals• A proposal has about a 10% to 40% chance of being

successful depending on the subject

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SCIENCE: A Way of Knowing

Communication Among Scientists• Scientific meetings• Journals, publications• Scientists submit papers to publish results

of their research• Journal editor sends manuscript to a panel of

reviewers which are scientists that are experts in that field

• Usually send back with a list of modifications and corrections

• This process is known as peer review.