Science

“Science can be described as the art of systematic oversimplification”

Karl Popper, 1902-94

“When you cannot measure, your knowledge is meager and unsatisfactory”

Lord Kelvin, 1824-1907

“Science is a way of thinking more than it is a body of

knowledge”Carl Sagan, 1934-96

“Don’t believe the results of experiments until they are

confirmed by theory”Sir Arthur Eddington, 1882-

1944

“Science is a long history of learning how not to fool

ourselves”Richard Feynman, 1918-88

“Science does not tell us how to live”

Leo Tolstoy, 1828-1910

“Everything you learned… as “obvious” becomes less and less obvious as you begin to

study the Universe”Buckminster Fuller, 1895-

1983

“The arrogance of scientists is not nearly so dangerous as the arrogance that comes

from ignorance”Lewis Wolpert, 1956-

“Science is a way of describing reality; it is

therefore limited by the limits of observation, and it asserts

nothing which is outside observation”

Jacob Bronowski, 1908-74

“Science is the only permanent revolution in human affairs, since it is

commited to challenging the findings of its forebears”

Daniel Bell, 1919-

“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but

rather because its opponents eventually die out, and a new

generation grows up familiar with it”Max Planck, 1858-1947

“The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it

is comprehensible”Albert Einstein, 1879-1955

“Science is built up of facts, as a house is built of staones; but an accumulation of facts is no more science than a heap of

stones is a house”Henri Poincaré, 1854-1912

“As a matter of historical fact, the history of science is, by

and large, a history of progress”

Karl Popper, 1902-94

“Aaahhh….I love the smell of Science in the morning”

Dexter

What is the scientific method?

How do scientists gain their knowledge?

Remember the characteristics of scientists

• Collaborative• Observant• Creative• Open-minded• Risk-taking• Methodical• Analytical• ??

It definitely looks like you’ve caught some sort of Herpes

Grisham.

• Pattern spotting• Guessing the rule• Testing the rule=• Empirical observation• Forming an inductive, reasoned

hypothesis• Testing by falsification

Remember the processes used in the card game

Key elements must be: • observation of empirical and

measurable evidence,• experimentation (esp falsification, the

process by which we eliminate failures and falsehoods), and

• Logical, rational and coherent theoretical explanations

Draw and label a diagram or flow-chart of the model scientific method

How does your model compare with this one?

Experimental data or

observation

Inductive hypothesis

Prediction and experimental

testing

Theory confirmed and publishedas knowledge

Theory is falsified and discarded

What are the problems or issues with this model?

• Paradigms, categories and perception problems with observation: 23 chromosomes

• Subjectivity rather than objectivity in observations

• Confirmation bias• Creativity & problems of induction at 2 & 3• Problems of falsification at stages 4 & 5,

incl with the nature of scientific communities

What are the problems or issues with this model?

What is the essential component of the scientific method?

models of scientific change: Karl Popper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Popper

• Each theory builds progressively on the theories preceding it

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• Paradigms encompass some parts of previous theories, but reject other parts

models of scientific change: Thomas Kuhn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Samuel_Kuhn

1 2 3

• Theories have little to do with previous theories, and are incoherent or inconsistent.

models of scientific change: Paul Feyerabend

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Feyerabend

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It could be argued that the scientific method itself has been

developed over time, ‘scientifically’!