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Bella edwards
Chapter1WhatisScience.pptxWhat is Science?
Chapter One
What is Science?
Direct Experience
Doubt and Skepticism
Facts and Relationships
Tests Validity of Ideas
Self-Correcting
What is Science?
Four Alternative Ways of Knowing
Tenacity: Because that’s how it’s always been.
Authority: Because “they” said so.
Reason: Seems reasonable to me.
Common Sense: In my experience….
What is Science?
A fifth way of Knowing is Science!
Whitehead (1925) defined science as using:
Unbiased observation via sight, sound, touch
Reason and logic to compare experiences
What is Science?
What is Not Science?
…is PseudoScience!
Bill Nye the Science Guy explains (cult classic)
http :// www.dailymotion.com/video/x3jaudr
What is Science?
Galen (130 AD)
Prominent Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman empire.
Most accomplished of all medical researchers of his time
First to perform experiments to find true causes
What is Science?
Sir Francis Bacon (1597)
"Men have sought to make a world from their own conception and to draw from their own minds all the material which they employed, but if, instead of doing so, they had consulted experience and observation, they would have the facts and not opinions to reason about, and might have ultimately arrived at the knowledge of the laws which govern the material world."
What is Science?
Isaac Newton (1680)
Minimize the explanation
Law of parsimony – the simplest explanation is the best
Same effect produced by same cause
If true in one case at one time, likely true for other similar cases at other times
Current ideas are true until proven false
Always look fabulous
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What is Science?
Semmelweis
“Saviour of the Mothers”
In the early 1800’s, surgeons did not scrub up before surgery or even wash their hands between patients, causing infections to be transferred from one patient to another.
Demonstrated in the 1840’s that hand-washing could drastically reduce the number of women dying after childbirth
Experimentation to discover true cause.
What is Science?
Auguste Comte (1853)
"The law is this: that each of our leading conceptions, -each branch of our knowledge, -passes successively through three different theoretical conditions: the Theological, or fictitious; the Metaphysical, or abstract; and the Scientific, or positive."
Theological Stage - explanation by personified deities
Fetishism – primitive people worshiped inanimate objects like trees, stones, a piece of wood, volcanic eruptions, etc.
Polytheism - The explanation of things through the use of many Gods.
Monotheism - means believing in one God or God in one
Metaphysical or Abstract Stage - refers to explanation by impersonal abstract concepts
Positive Stage - refers to scientific explanation based on observation, experiment, and comparison.
What is Science?
Science Requires Three Things:
Empiricism
a theory which states that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience
Knowledge is based on experience and direct observation
Positivism
a theory which states that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience.
What is Science?
Materialism
The philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena (including consciousness) are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance.
Description
A goal of science in which behaviors are systematically and accurately described.
Explanation
A goal of science in which a researcher achieves awareness of why behaviors occur as they do.
Prediction
A goal of science in which a researcher can specify in advance those situations in which a particular behavior will occur.
Control
A goal of science in which a researcher can manipulate variables to produce specific behaviors.
Goals of Science
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Events are lawful. There is a basic pattern to the occurrence of events.
All events are explainable (i.e., have a cause).
Determinism is the belief that for every event there are preceding causes or events.
If this is true, then given the appropriate resources scientists can uncover the answers to all questions concerning the cause of behavior.
Assumptions of the Scientific Method
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Scientists are open-minded.
Scientists are skeptical.
Scientists are critical.
Scientists are intolerant of error
Scientists demand thorough documentation
Scientists insist on replicability
Characteristics of Scientists
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