Lesson 19: The Growth of Scientific

Knowledge

Context
This lesson is best used when the class has already devoted some time to the topic of scientific
knowledge, during which several examples of scientific claims, drawn especially from
experimental science studies, are established.

Aims
y To consider the nature of the growth of knowledge in the natural sciences.
y To develop argument(s) for a particular growth explanation (either presented or created) as
well as arguments against other explanations (either presented or created).
y To compare the growth of scientific knowledge with the growth of knowledge in other areas
of the TOK programme.
y To consider the several ways in which the term “growth” might be used, and how these, in
turn, might influence the conclusions we reach about knowledge.

Class Management
The lesson usually requires 40–60 minutes. The class is best divided into groups of three or four
students. Each member of the group should receive a copy of the student handout, containing
the instructions and The Growth of Scientific Knowledge: An Analysis by Six Scientists.
Each group should be allowed 15–20 minutes to discuss the various interpretations given with
the graphs or to create a graph that better represents the growth of knowledge. Each group must
give reasons in support of their selection as well as reasons why other interpretations were not
selected.
An open discussion should then follow, in which each group’s findings and conclusions are
considered. An abundance of arguments and counter arguments is a good sign.

Focus Activity
The following three pages (one page of instructions and two pages of graphs) should be copied
for each student.

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Lesson 19: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge

Student Handout

The Growth of Scientific Knowledge

Instructions
Each of you has been given a set of graphic interpretations put forward by six different scientists
concerning the growth of scientific knowledge.
1 Carefully study each of the interpretations given by the scientists.
2 Discuss these different interpretations with your group and select the one that you find
appropriate. If you find that none of the six ideas is appropriate, and you would like to present
another idea, then clearly illustrate or define your interpretation.
3 Make a brief note of the argument in support of your selection. List at least one reason for
each of the other interpretations as to why it has been rejected. Do not hesitate to use support
examples from your own experience of science or from your study of science in the Diploma
Programme.
4 Select a group leader who can communicate your selection and rationale to the rest of the
class.
In approximately 20 minutes we will reassemble to discuss results from each of the different
groups.

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Lesson 19: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge

The Growth of Scientific Knowledge: An Analysis by Six Scientists

Six distinguished scientists have met to discuss to what extent scientific knowledge can be said to grow.
When asked to produce graphs representing the accumulation of knowledge (K) versus time (T), the
scientists replied as follows.
Scientist A demonstrated that the growth of scientific knowledge has occurred simply in a linear way as
shown below.

Scientist B showed that knowledge claims have not grown in straight linear fashion but curvilinearly.
Note that the curve represents a rapid growth of knowledge claims in the earlier days, while more modern
claims appear to occur less and less frequently.

Scientist C stated that she agreed with Scientist B’s curvilinear interpretation but that she disagreed with
the way the curve had been drawn. Scientist C stated that the most rapid growth has occurred not at the
beginning of recorded knowledge but rather at the end, as shown below.

Scientist D stated that the growth of scientific knowledge claims has come not in a strictly linear fashion
nor in a curvilinear way but rather in a piece-wise linear manner. He argued that the steps or break
points in the curve represent major discoveries (eg electricity, laws of motion, atomic energy).

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Lesson 19: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge

Scientist E agreed with the spurt growth of knowledge described by Scientist D, but added yet another
point to consider. She stated that once a major claim of knowledge has come to light, other prior claims
may be falsified. Therefore we see that after a major stair-step jump, we have a slight drop off in total
claims still considered to be true.

Scientist F had to disagree with all others. He stated that the growth of scientific knowledge is all relative
to what we know at a particular time. He asserted that science has actually raised more questions than it
has answered. Indeed his curved graph shows a decrease in knowledge (that is, relative to the amount of
knowledge that humans actually thought they knew at a particular time).

F
T

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Lesson 19: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge

Discussion Questions
y What are the different meanings of the phrase “to grow”, and how do the implications
change with its changing meanings?
y What are the different causes of the growth of scientific knowledge?
y What are the factors that limit or contribute to the stagnation or decline of knowledge in the
natural sciences?
y What are some of the factors that influence the problems or questions that scientists decide
to work on?
y Does the element of chance play a role in the accumulation of scientific knowledge?
y Does and/or should a scientist’s gender or culture or personal beliefs influence his/her
judgements as to what is or is not scientific knowledge or worthy of scientific investigation?
y What role do different kinds of logic play in the growth of scientific knowledge?
y Do notions of science appear to be becoming more complex as time goes by, or do ideas
appear to be reducing to a simpler form? How would one assess such an issue?
y What is the notion of a paradigm shift, particularly as it is presented by Thomas Kuhn in his
Structures of Scientific Revolution?

Links to Other Areas of TOK

y Does the word “growth” predispose us to certain conclusions about knowledge?
y How do other forms of knowledge such as mathematics, ethics, history, and the arts,
compare to science on this issue of growth?
y Compare the accumulation of knowledge in an individual with the accumulation of
knowledge in a knowledge system. What can be said about each individual’s accumulation of
knowledge? What are the factors that contribute to the differences in the accumulated
knowledge among individuals? Have these factors been identified in this lesson as
components of growth in scientific knowledge?
y In terms of political judgements, how do political issues, such as government subsidies or
defence needs, contribute to activities in science?
y In terms of ethical judgements, how does the urgency of a problem or the moral worth of a
problem contribute to or detract from scientific endeavours?
y To what extent are scientific activities driven by economic considerations?

From Other Times and Places

y What do the efforts to achieve cold fusion imply about the way science grows?
y What does Fleming’s discovery of penicillin imply about the nature of scientific growth?
y What does the debate surrounding Darwin’s Theory of Evolution contribute to the growth of
scientific knowledge?
y What do the experiences of Copernicus and Galileo suggest about the nature of scientific
change?

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Lesson 19: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge

Quotations

Science is not a system of certain, or well-established, statements; nor is it a system which

steadily advances towards a state of finality.
Karl Popper

Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cosy indoor warmth of
traditional humanising myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigour, and the great spaces have
a splendour of their own.
Bertrand Russell

References
Barrow, JD, Theories of Everything, (1991) Clarendon Press, ISBN 0198539282
Collins, H & Pinch, T, The Golem: what you should know about science, (1998) Cambridge University
Press, ISBN 0521645506
Chalmers, AF, What Is This Thing Called Science? (1999) Hackett Publishing Co, ISBN 0872204529
Abel, R, Man is the Measure, (1997) Free Press, ISBN 068483636X

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