The Nature of Science

The universe around you and inside of you is really a collection of countless mysteries. It is the job of scientists to solve those mysteries. The goal of science is to understand the world around us.

How do scientists go about understanding the world? Like all good detective, scientists use special methods to determine truths about nature. Such truths are called facts. Here is an example of a fact: The sun is a source of light and heat. However, science is more than a list of facts- just as studying science is more than memorizing facts. Jules Henri Poincare, a famous nineteenth-century French scientist who charted the motions of planets, put it this way:

"Science is built up with facts, as a house is with stones, but a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house."

Hence, scientists go further than simply discovering facts. Scientists try to use facts to solve larger mysteries in nature. In this sense, you might think of facts as clues to scientific mysteries. An example of a larger mystery is how the sun produces heat and light that it showers upon the Earth. Another larger mystery is how the relatively few and simple organisms of 3 billion years ago gave rise to the many complex organisms that inhabit the Earth today.

Using facts they have gathered, scientists propose explanations for the events they observe. Then, they perform experiments to test their explanations. After studying facts, making observations, and performing experiments, scientists may develop a theory. A theory is the most logical explanation for events that occur in nature. Keep in mind that scientists do not use the word theory as you do. For example, you might have a theory about why your favorite baseball team is not winning. Your theory may or may not make sense, but it is not a scientific theory. A scientific theory is not just a guess or a hunch. It is a powerful, time tested concept that makes useful and dependable predictions about the natural world.

When a scientist proposes a theory, that theory must be tested over and over again, producing the same results. If it survives the tests, the theory may be accepted by the scientific community. However, theories can be wrong and may be changed as more information becomes available. Examples of theories include the Theory of Relativity, the Kinetic Molecular Theory, and the Theory of Evolution.

In some cases, if a hypothesis survives many tests, it becomes a law. A law generally states that a particular event will always occur if certain conditions are met. A law describes the observed pattern without trying to explain it; the explanation resides in the appropriate theory. Examples of laws include the Law of Conservation of Energy, Newton's Laws of Motion, and the Ideal Gas Law. Laws are usually accepted as true and universal. They are well supported by observations, experimentation, and data. Many scientific laws can predict events so well that they use math and can be expressed as an equation. Still laws, like theories, can be challenged and possibly disproven. However, disproving a scientific law is very rare. It is more likely that a law will become part of a broader theory or law. These ideas point out the spirit at the heart of science:

Always allow questions to be asked and new scientific explanations to be considered.

Now, answer the questions on THIS FORM.

Next, move on to this page: Branches of Science.