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What is Science?
What is Science?
The Oxford dictionary defines science as "the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment." This definition may offer some clarity in what science is in one sense - it does not explain all the ways that we use the term.
Notice two things about the definition above. First, it describes science as a activity (or verb) and a pattern of thought. In the words of Carl Sagan, "Science is more than a body of knowledge, it's a way of thinking. A way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility.", however, often science is used to refer to the accumulated discovery of "scientific" knowledge - and note, what do we mean when we use the phrase "scientific"? Is that information garnered through scientific processes, or is this knowledge about the physical and natural world?
While we do have a general idea of what "science" is, its meaning in every day conversation can drift.
Consider the following phrases that you might have encountered:
"I believe in science!" - Dude on the internet
"Science is a body of knowledge which is built up through experimental testing of ideas. It is a practical way of finding reliable answers to questions we may ask about the world around us." (FAQ-ANS)
"We should trust the science" - Time Magazine
"The science states that..." - NIH Director's Blog (Dr. Francis Collins)
"through the scientist's noble sacrifice, society passes from ignorance to truth, from suffering to salvation" - R Herzig
"All bow to the Holy Science. Those sacrificing their newborn infants on the alter of science please form a que to the left."
Okay maybe not that last one, but we do use the term science, in very disparate ways. So what might we mean by it? What might we think science is?
The Origins of Scientific Thought:
The Origins of Scientific Thought:
Ancient questions around the construction of reality, both physical and idea-based, were of enormous importance in shaping modern thought on the nature of the universe.
The primary lineage of these thought of questions come from the scattered kingdoms and peoples around the Bosphorus, but many of these ideas in terms were the result of cross fertilization as Helenic thinkers brushed shoulders with Middle-Eastern, African and Indian scholars who had been wrestling with similar questions in different ways.
Medieval scholarship had some significant breakthroughs, but relied heavily on the "established" theories and knowledge outlined during the Classical Period. Many major discoveries were made, some with more penetrating power then others.
The types of questions and scientific problems addressed were not always the same as the one's that we ask; for example "what is the correlation between spiritual and physical reality? (or 'how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?) and What were the best means of creating an accurate and powerful Trebuchet by which to destroy castle fortifications, and how to counter these?
If you look to the left you will see Ronald McDonald's great grandfather. The Enlightenment was a period of heady idealism and a reactionary rejection of tradition, religion and
Many fundamental assumptions were questioned and a new criteria for establishing facts and knowledge were articulated. Utopian visions of society and the world based on "scientific" principles, began to be espoused, and revolutions - both political, technological, scientific and economic tore through society - sometimes with positive effects, other times leaving carnage in their wake.
The debates and issues raised during this time period were continued sometimes uncool up into the present day.
The modern state of the philosophy of science is somewhat unsettled, as more recent efforts to assert the dominance of scientific thought as a means of building knowledge, basically remains unchallenged - but the reasoning and articulation for these views has been successively knocked down and questioned at each step.
The modern philosophy of science has made progress, but remains in a state of flux as the underpinnings of the theory remain unclear.
Activity: Tracking Motion through Ideas
Activity: Tracking Motion through Ideas
Using the below link find three (or more 'scientists') whose discoveries were connected, changing with
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_scientific_discoveries
Shifting Theories and Understandings:
Shifting Theories and Understandings:
As an activity we will research and analyze the various shifting understanding of particular aspects of our world in teams, presenting our findings to our classmates.
Atomic Theory
Atomic Theory
Democritus
Earth, Air, Fire, Water
Thompson's Model
Rutherford
Bohr
Gravity
Gravity
Archimedes
Aristotle - Weight
Benedetti / Galileo
Newton's
Theory of Relativity
Cosmos
Cosmos
Geocentric
Ptolemaic
Copernican / Galilean Models
Island Universes
Special and General Theory of Relativity
Genetics
Genetics
Blood, Bile, Phlegm, Pus
Phrenology
Phyletic Gradualism / Punctuated Equilibrium
Human Genome Project
Light
Light
Composition of Colours
Wavelengths
Wave
Particle
Science has had a number of controversies that have cropped up over the last number of years. From the challenging of prevailing theories of the Classical thinkers to arguing for the exclusivity of scientific claims of knowledge, to the accusations of "pseudoscience" leveled against such fields as psychology, anthropology, or
Currently the field of the philosophy of science is quite unsettled, and theories around defining what science is, where its exact strengths and ideas come from, and what effect it has in society are still deeply unsettled.
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