The following online resources explain in accessible terms what science is and how it works.
We begin with essays that have in mind the nexus between science and faith and the misunderstandings that often attend their interaction. Then we open up the topic more broadly to address science in general, with the help of the new "Understanding Science" webpage from UC Berkeley.
What is the Nature of Science
Keith B. Miller (PhD, University of Rochester) is Professor of Geology at Kansas State University. He is editor of the book Perspectives on an Evolving Creation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), discussed on our page Creation through Evolutionary Means: Books Homepage
Countering Public Misconceptions About the Nature of Evolutionary Science
Numerous fundamental misunderstandings about the nature, limitations, and practice of science underlie the public resistance to the conclusions of modern science. This is particularly true of evolutionary science, which has been falsely portrayed as an expression of an atheistic or materialist philosophy. Both traditional creationists and Intelligent Design supporters build their cases upon these false views of the scientific enterprise. Therefore, public challenges to the conclusions of science must be addressed not only by appeals to the evidence, but also by directly countering the widely-held erroneous views about the nature of science itself.
Misconceptions and obstacles to scientific literacy
· Science is a thinly disguised effort to promote a godless worldview
· The methodological naturalism of science restricts the search for truth
· Supernatural action is a legitimate subject of scientific inquiry
· True science deals with proven facts
· There is no way to objectively select among “theories”
· The historical sciences are inherently untestable
· All “theories” have a right to a hearing in the public science classroom
Georgia Journal of Science. 2005;63:175-189. Full-text available online within the pdf of that issue of the journal.
The Similarity of Theory Testing in the Historical and "Hard" Sciences
Frequent claims appear in the Christian science/faith literature, and in popular discussions of science, that the historical sciences (cosmology, astronomy, geology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, archaeology) are fundamentally different from the “hard” sciences, and that their scientific conclusions are less rigorous and less testable. It is argued that the historical sciences deal with unrepeatable events and are therefore not experimental. Furthermore, because past events and processes are not directly observable, theories of origins are deemed inferior or less certain than studies of present processes. This view commonly finds expression in statements like: “No one was there so we can never know what really happened.” Scientific claims about Earth and biological history are then dismissed as untestable speculation. These various perceptions of historical science represent serious misunderstandings of both the nature of experiment and theory testing, and the character of scientific “proof.” It is my hope that this brief essay will serve both to expose widely held misconceptions about the nature of science and to demonstrate that historical science is rigorously testable.
Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith. 2002;54:119-122. Full-text as pdf courtesy of the American Scientific Affiliation.
For more on the nature of science, see:
1. Eugenie Scott, "Truth without Certainty," Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction, Second Edition (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008). Her first chapter, attached here, explains how we know things, what constitutes "proof," what it takes for something in science to reach the level of "theory," and how evolutionary theory is testable. Scott. Chap 1. Truth wo Certainty.pdf Amazon
2. Ian Tattersall, "What's So Special About Science?" Evo Edu Outreach (2008) 1:36-41. Tattersall is Curator, American Museum of Natural Sciences. Biosketch
3. Michael Poole, Exploring Science and Belief (Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers, 2007). Amazon And for the Brits, the same volume is entitled User’s Guide to Science and Belief, 3Rev edition (Oxford: Lion Hudson, 2007). Amazon Poole is Visiting Research Fellow in Science and Religion at King's College, London. Academic Biosketch
4. Our Scientism page explores this topic, as well.
Understanding Science
To understand what science is, just look around you. What do you see? Perhaps, your hand on the mouse, a computer screen, papers, ballpoint pens, the family cat, the sun shining through the window... Science is, in one sense, our knowledge of all that — all the stuff that is in the universe: from the tiniest subatomic particles in a single atom of the metal in your computer's circuits, to the nuclear reactions that formed the immense ball of gas that is our sun, to the complex chemical interactions and electrical fluctuations within your own body that allow you to read and understand these words. But just as importantly, science is also a reliable process by which we learn about all that stuff in the universe. However, science is different from many other ways of learning because of the way it is done. Science relies on testing ideas with evidence gathered from the natural world. This website will help you learn more about science as a process of learning about the natural world and access the parts of science that affect your life.
About Understanding Science
The mission of Understanding Science is to provide a fun, accessible, and free resource that accurately communicates what science is and how it really works. The process of science is exciting, but standard explanations often miss its dynamic nature. Science affects us all everyday, but people often feel cut off from science. Science is an intensely human endeavor, but many portrayals gloss over the passion, curiosity, and even rivalries and pitfalls that characterize all human ventures. Understanding Science gives users an inside look at the general principles, methods, and motivations that underlie all of science.
This project has at its heart a re-engagement with science that begins with teacher preparation and ends with broader public understanding. Its immediate goals are to (1) improve teacher understanding of the nature of the scientific enterprise, (2) provide resources and strategies that encourage and enable K-16 teachers to reinforce the nature of science throughout their science teaching, and (3) provide a clear and informative reference for students and the general public that accurately portrays the scientific endeavor.
The Understanding Science site was produced by the UC Museum of Paleontology of the University of California at Berkeley, in collaboration with a diverse group of scientists and teachers, and was funded by the National Science Foundation. Understanding Science was informed and initially inspired by our work on the Understanding Evolution project, which highlighted the fact that many misconceptions regarding evolution spring from misunderstandings of the nature of science. Furthermore, research indicates that students and teachers at all grade levels have inadequate understandings of the nature and process of science, which may be traced to classrooms in which science is taught as a simple, linear, and non-generative process. This false and impoverished depiction disengages students, discourages public support, and may help explain current indications that the U.S. is losing its global edge in science. Even beyond the health of the U.S. economy, the public has a genuine need to critically assess conflicting representations of scientific evidence in the media. To do this, they need to understand the strengths, limitations, and basic methods of the enterprise that has produced those claims. Understanding Science takes an important step towards meeting these needs.
Teach Them Science: Science Education Matters
Religious and Secular Groups Team Up to Advocate Teaching 21st-Century Science and Evolution in Texas Classrooms
New co-sponsored website is one-stop resource for parents, educators, and other concerned citizens.
AUSTIN – As the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) prepares to vote on new science curriculum standards for public schools, two organizations—one secular, the other religious—have come together to advocate a 21st-Century science education for Texas public schoolchildren.
The Center for Inquiry Austin (CFI) and The Clergy Letter Project (TCLP) announced the launch of a new website intended to empower parents, educators and other concerned citizens. CFI supports and defends science. TCLP is an organization of thousands of American clergy members who have banded together to demonstrate that religion and science need not be at odds with one another…
Read the full press release >>
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The Science Undergirding Evolution
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