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THE GAME OF SCIENCEDavid P. Maloney & Mark F. Masters
Adapted by Takoa Lawson for Great Neck North Science Dept.
The Nature of Scientific Investigations
We can imagine that this complicated array of moving things which constitutes ‘the universe’ is something like a great chess game being played, and we are observers of the game. We do not know what the rules of the game are; all we are allowed to do is to watch the playing. Of course, if we watch long enough, we may eventually catch on to a few of the rules. The rules of the universe are what we mean by fundamental physics. Richard Feynman
Thought Experiment
Imagine you were interested in understanding a game played by two opponents If you couldn’t communicate directly with
the players how would you go about trying to understand the game? What questions would you ask about the game? How could you obtain data or seek answers to
your questions? Would you want to collaborate with others? Is sharing the result(s) of the process
important?
Game Understanding Questions How many pieces does each player have? Are the turns symmetric (that is do the players have similar
roles in the game)? Do the players take turns? Do the pieces belong to individual players or are all the pieces
“community” pieces? What are the starting positions for the pieces? How do the pieces move? Do all of the pieces move the same way, or do different pieces
have different move patterns? If there are different move patterns, how many are there and what
are they? How does a player win the game? Can the game end in a draw?
Delta Game Practice Round
Player P Wins
Game Understanding Questions How many pieces does each player have? Are the turns symmetric (that is do the players have similar
roles in the game)? Do the players take turns? Do the pieces belong to individual players or are all the pieces
“community” pieces? What are the starting positions for the pieces? How do the pieces move? Do all of the pieces move the same way, or do different pieces
have different move patterns? If there are different move patterns, how many are there and what
are they? How does a player win the game? Can the game end in a draw?
Game Play Conclusions (Theories) The starting position theory
The legal moves theory
The winning theory
Gamma Game Round 1
Player Brown Wins
Gamma Game Round 2
Player Brown Wins
Gamma Game Round 3
Player Brown Wins
Understanding the Universe
The basic processes and reasoning behind easily observed phenomenon Describe the processes and reasoning
behind complicated or difficult to observe phenomenon
Develop the skills and knowledge to participate readily and fully Recognizing advantages, risks, and costs of
knowledge and technology
The “Games” in Physics
A fundamental component of science is asking questions skillfully and making extremely careful observations
Questions we want to ask about our universe pertain to the following topics
Light Energy Mechanics Electricity Electromagnetism Waves Thermal Physics Electronics Atomic Physics
The Scientific Method
Our agreed upon strategy to better understand the games the universe is playing
The Scientific Method
The Scientific Method