Science and Scientific Illiteracy

What is science?Carl Sagan stated:Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge

1934 - 1996

Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by examining his wives mouthsBertrand, Lord Russel 1952

Science is the study of nature in an attempt to understand it and to form an organized body of knowledge that has predictive power and application in society (Chiappetta and Koballa Jr. 2006)

DefinitionScience is a particular way of knowing the world So is philosophy or a talk show, or a fortune cookieHowever: In Science, explanations are limited to those based on observations and experiments that can be verified by other scientistsExplanations that cannot be based on empirical evidence are not part of science

What is Empirical Evidence? Evidence or data that is produced by experiment or observation

ExampleEvolution vs. Intelligent Design

Evolution vs. Intelligent DesignEvolution all the changes that have formed life on Earth from its earliest beginnings to the diversity that characterizes

Intelligent Design The theory that holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection.

Why not teach both in a biology classroom?Because Intelligent Design is not based on science!Evolution is based on scienceIntelligent Design is based on faith

Notice I did not say Intelligent Design was wrong!

No matter what eyewitness testimony is in the court of law, it is the lowest form of evidence in the court of science.

Science Is Not Based On Opinion!Scientific information is based on objective reasoning through careful analysis of data

Data must be gathered without experimenter biasCandle Activity

Conclusions based on data need to made public and scrutinized by the scientific communityhttp://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/Bostrom_Ritchison_AMKE.pdf

Scientific statements/information are not made lightly

What are so special about these dates?

December 21, 2012

April 13, 2029

December 21, 2012Mayan ProphecyGalactic alignmentEnd of the Worldhttp://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/watch/2009/11/12/will-2012-be-the-end

April 9, 2029Asteroid Apophis

http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/watch/2007/02/09/commonwealth-club-asteroid-apophis

How Do We Get Scientific Information?Scientific Methods or Inquiry

ObservingCollecting DataDeveloping a HypothesisExperimentingConcludingObservationHypothesisExperimentDataConclusion

What Students Love to Hear!Science is Math and Math is ScienceData collecting and how it is done is based on the statistics you choose to use for your study

Four Themes of ScienceScience as a Way of ThinkingScience as a Way of InvestigatingScience as a Body of KnowledgeScience and Its Interaction with Technology and Society

Science as a Body of KnowledgeFactsFoundations for principles, concepts, and theoriesRaw material with little meaningConceptsAn abstraction of events, objects, or phenomena that seem to have certain properties or attributes in common

Science as a Body of KnowledgeTheoriesUsed to explain underlying patterns and forcesA logical, time-tested explanation for events that occur in the natural worldCan be disproved

Example:Kinetic Theory or Kinetic Theory of Gases

Science as a Body of KnowledgeLaws and Principles

Higher order ideas used to describe phenomena and patterns in nature under certain conditions

Key point to remember is a law describes and predicts but does not explain the phenomena

ExampleNewtons Laws of Motion

Why Should I Care About Science?

Science and Society The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.Einstein, 1954, p. 283

The knowledge gained from science is meant to help better society

Science is not meant to try and tell society how to act or live

Need to be cautious with different cultures and beliefs

Science and Society

BenefitsAdvances in medicineCleaner fuelsAdvances in technology

Negative Impacts Society has on ScienceMisunderstandingFunding Most major grants are federalWhat happens when there is a war?What happens when the administration has a different philosophy with funding agencies?

What is at the center of our solar system?Sun

Has this always been true?No > 300 years you could have been stripped, tied to a stake and burned to death for saying the Earth was not at the center of the universe

Giordano BrunoStated the sun was one of an infinite number of independently moving heavenly bodies in the universe

What do you think happened to Giodarno?The church burned him alive!!!

It is astonishing to realize that until Galileo performed his experiments on the acceleration of gravity in the early seventeenth century, nobody questioned Aristotle's falling balls. Nobody said, Show Me! Neil Degrasse Tyson, Universe Down To Earth, p. 17

DHMODihydrogen Monoxide

http://www.dhmo.org/

Yes, DHMO is dangerous in quantity!It is called drowning!!!!!!!!!!!!

DHMO = H2O = Water

Examples

Can You Believe This?A court case a couple of decades ago, where the person being indicted stated the moon was in a particular phase. The prosecution brought in an astronomer to counter argue that the moon was in a different phase than the one suggested. The judge asked how the astronomer knew this and the astronomer showed the judge the Astronomical Almanac which gives the dates and phases of the moon. The judge threw out the astronomers testimony saying that we cant predict the phases of the moon any better than the weather.

What are they thinking?Italian scientists face manslaughter charges for failure to predict earthquake

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/03/italy-scientists-risk-earthquake-death-charges

What is Science?Science is the study of nature in an attempt to understand it and to form an organized body of knowledge that has predictive power and application in society (Chiappetta and Koballa Jr. 2006)