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What is Science?

Why Study Science?


Depending on who your teachers were and what classes you had in your K-12 education, you might
either love or despise science. Or perhaps it was just something to “get through”.
But in reality, we “live” science every day. Without knowing it, you use the scientific method quite often
as well. We see or hear something, we come up with our own guesses. Depending on the
circumstances, you might even do a bit of online research. And then come to a conclusion. For
example, if your car won’t start. You might check the gas gauge, battery or the temperature outside.
Or even look in the owner’s manual? And then you would try things like adding gas, or jumping the car
etc. So we use the method often without even realizing it.

A Very Brief History of Science.


In the past, people relied on superstition or magic to explain the world around them. Sometimes this
was due to certain taboos or restrictions such as the church not allowing physicians to actually study
human bodies. Other times it might just be easier to explain something without actually testing it out.
The ancient Greeks used logic and math to investigate the world. They determined the Earth was round
and its circumference. Also that the apparent movement of the stars was actually due to the Earth
rotating. They classified things, engineered elaborate water systems – both fresh and sewage and built
structures that still remain today. Aristotle was one of the great thinkers or philosophers of the time.
Knowledge was passed on from person to person. In an effort to explain the makeup of the planet,
Aristotle decided that the earth and everything in it was made of 4 elements, fire, water, air and earth.
When the question kept coming up about life, he added a fifth “element” that he called “aether”.
After conquering the Greeks, the Romans adopted these practices as well. So the methods of scientific
inquiry spread all through the Roman Empire. However, when the Roman Empire fell after about 600
years, advancements in science stopped in Europe and religion took over the business of explaining
origins of things and how they worked. But science was able to advance in other parts of the world
such as China and the East.
China and the Polynesians let the way in astronomy while the Arab countries were developing math and
the making of useful materials such as paper and glass. This knowledge and scientific inquiry were
shared with Europe in the 1100’s when these people came to Spain.
Even though the ancient Greeks and early cultures had known better, the thought that the Earth was the
center of the universe was common until the 16th century. This is known as the “geocentric” model.
People were taught that the sun revolved around the earth even though mapping of the stars and
planets movements seemed contradictory to this idea. Nicolaus Copernicus proposed that the sun is
stationary and the Earth is the one revolving. The powerful Church banned this idea for a long time and
persisted in the teaching that the Earth was the center. In the 17th century, Galileo, an Italian physicist,
used experiments and his telescope he invented, to show that Copernicus was correct. He too was
denied by the church and actually arrested. It wasn’t until about another hundred years later that his
and Copernicus’s findings were accepted by most of the educated people. This is an early example of a
change in scientific paradigm. A paradigm, according to Dictionary.com is a “typical example or pattern
of something; a model.” Or in science it is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including
theories, research methods and standards for what constitutes reasonable contributions to a field. But
What is Science?

overtime, these paradigms may change. In the case above, Early Greeks and Romans knew the earth
was round and revolved around the sun. But when those cultures disappeared, the church taught that
the earth was flat and was the center of the universe. Later discoveries showed that the early Greeks
were correct and the round earth and the heliocentric or sun centered model took the place of the
prevailing flat earth and geocentric model. Today of course, the round earth and heliocentric model are
still taught and we have even further evidence from our satellite photos and human travels into space.
There are many other examples of paradigm shifts such as the big bang, plate tectonics and more
recently, human caused global climate change and ozone depletion.

Mathematics
Math is an important tool for science. Measurements and calculations are essential. In this course,
there will be some math. But as a tool, not a “punishment”. You will be given any equations required
and only those necessary to come to the desired conclusions will be used. One of the most important
thing in using math and equations though is to ask yourself, “Does the answer I just arrived at make
sense?” For example, if your calculator says the airplane flew at 72 mph, don’t just write it down and
move on. Think, “Could an airplane fly at approximately the same speed as a car drives down a
highway?” And of course, the answer is no. It is more important in science to come up with
reasonable answers that are also plausible and make sense then it is to have the “correct” answer with 8
decimal places that in reality would be an impossible answer.

Scientific Method – didn’t I learn that in grade school?


Science is based on observations, questions and testing, testing and retesting hypotheses. And yes,
you’ve probably learned it all before and hey, maybe you even earned a ribbon or prize in the science
fair once or twice in the past. One of the main differences between philosophers like Aristotle and the
scientists like Galileo however was that the philosophers used thinking and logic to solve problems.
Scientists did too but like Galileo, they went one step further, they tried things out. They experimented.
There are a lot of different lists of the steps of the scientific method but they all basically have the same
core ideas.
1. Someone observes something. This could be by using any of the 5 senses.
2. They take what they observed and formulate a question or problem. Could be as simple as
“why did that happen?”
3. They make an educated guess (formally known as the hypothesis) to answer the question.
4. They predict and design an experiment based on the hypothesis and prediction.
5. Test the prediction – or in other words, perform the experiment.
6. Draw a conclusion based on the results and data from the experiment.
What is Science?

Depending on the observation and hypothesis, it is also a good idea to research what others
have done or discovered about the observation or experiments that have been done in the past.
A hypothesis must be testable. In science it is more important to be able to prove something is
wrong than it is to prove something is right. In fact, it is virtually impossible to prove something
is correct because there is always that slight chance that the next time you do the experiment,
you might prove it wrong. Or that future technology (such as Galileo’s telescope in the 17th
century) might come along and prove it is wrong. So for a hypothesis to be considered a
scientific hypothesis, there must be a test that may prove it is incorrect.
So saying all cats are gray in color is a scientific hypothesis even though it sounds a bit ridiculous.
It is possible to prove it is incorrect by just finding a cat that is not gray in color. On the other
hand, saying “water exists on other planets” is not technically a scientific hypothesis. You can
prove it is correct by finding evidence of water on other planets but there is no way to prove it is
incorrect if you don’t find water. It might just be that you haven’t looked at the right planets or
gone far enough into the universe.

Experiments
One experiment that shows the difference in a philosopher’s way of looking at things and a
scientist’s way is the Greek philosopher Aristotle’s idea that weight determines how fast an
object will fall. Aristotle thought about it rationally and it made sense. So the belief remained
for about 2000 years until Galileo set out to test it. In other words, he experimented!! He
actually dropped objects of different weights and measured the speed at which they fell. In
other words, he tried it out. A good experiment must be able to be repeated by others in the
same manner in which the first scientist carried it out. And hopefully the same results will
occur. But remember, any scientific hypothesis is designed to be disproven. So there is always
that chance.
It is important to control as many variables as possible in a science experiment. An
independent or manipulated variable is the one that the experimenter can change. Such as the
amount of water given to a group of plants. The dependent or responding variable is the thing
that changes based on the independent variable. So if we vary the water given, perhaps the
growth or color of the plant might be affected. Other than those two though, it is important to
have everything else as identical as possible. Such as the same species of plant, same soil, same
sunlight, temperature etc. in the above example.
Science works within nature. It deals with hypotheses that are testable. And some questions,
like what is the meaning of life, just are not testable. So, science does have limitations which is
where other disciplines can take over, more on those later.
What is Science?

Types of science.
Some aspects of science can be classified in several different categories. But in general, they fit
into three classifications: exact, applied or historical science.
Exact sciences are the “easiest” to do experiments in even though they are sometimes called the
“hard” sciences. But they do lend themselves to controlled experiments the best. Thigs that
can be repeated over and over with few variables Chemistry, math and physics are usually
classified as exact sciences. (And I am sure some of us would call them “hard” sciences in the
original sense of the word. In reality, they really make sense and can be a lot of fun and
interesting too.)
Applied sciences are perhaps the most diverse group. In general, they are sciences that are too
large in scope or too complicated to have complete control over the variables. For example,
disciplines that involve people are basically impossible to control many variables such as
genetics, environment etc. And some experiments using humans would be deemed ethically
wrong. Historical we have Nazi Germany as an example of this. So social sciences like
sociology, psychology, and anthropology are considered applied sciences. Other disciplines are
too large or complex to do controlled experiments well. These examples include ecology,
astronomy and meteorology.
Historical Sciences occurred in the past and would be difficult or probably impossible to
replicate. There is some overlap in historical and applied sciences depending on what aspect
you are looking at. An example is astronomy. Stars, planets etc. were formed long ago and we
can’t go back in time and observe them. However, experiments and measurements are
possible in astronomy. So for this narrative, it will be included in both categories. In general
our knowledge of the historical sciences comes from good observations and measurements and
present day processes we can assume also happened in the past. Besides astronomy, examples
include geology, paleontology and archeology.

Basic Tenets of Science


 Causality – everything in the universe has a natural cause.
 Uniformity in time and space – it happened that way in the past and will happen that way now.
Also, it works anywhere in the universe. This is very important in historical sciences obviously.
 Common perception – everyone will agree on the same thing.

What are some other disciplines besides science?


Pseudosciences like to pretend they follow the tenets of science and are based on fact but they are not.
For one, they do not have a common perception. Things like astrology, psychics or palm reading are
fun. But not everyone will agree on the same thing. Also, they claim to have causality but in reality, the
position of the moons of Saturn on the exact moment of your birth are not going to control how much
money you make or when you are going to meet the person of your dreams. There are some things
that occur that just defy explanation. But Pseudosciences are not science. They have no causality and
are not uniform in time and space. For example, no calorie energy drinks. Where is the “energy”
coming from then?
What is Science?

Non-sciences are disciplines like art, humanities, literature etc. They have an important purpose. But
they do not have a common perception. In fact, the world would be a very dull place if everyone had
the same tastes in art, fashion, music, movies etc. So disciplines like these, plus those based on beliefs
such as religion, are classified as non-sciences.

What is a theory vs. a law or scientific fact?


Both have been tested over and over and over. One can be proven but technically both can be
disproven. Might be used interchangeably with the term “scientific fact”.
Basically a theory is a broad, detailed explanation of how or why something happens. It has a
predictive value. It is refined over time as new information comes in. And it can change. For
example, as new fossils are found and mechanisms observed, the theory of evolution has
changed since Darwin and Wallace first proposed it. Actually it has … evolved. A law is more of
a “this is the way it is”. It usually has a mathematical relationship and can be used to state this
is what works. Theories don’t become laws. But both have been tested over and over and
over and so far have not been disproven. A classic example of a Law is the laws of motion. We
will be working with Newton’s laws later on in this course. And yes, there will be math
involved!! A scientific fact is something that everyone can observe and agree that it is true.
Like an anole or cuttlefish can change color based on surroundings. People can witness it so it is
a fact.

Measurements in science
Accurate measurements are vitals in science. Science uses the metric system for its measurement
units.
This link might look a bit “kindergarten” but it is pretty cool.
https://www.mathsisfun.com/measure/metric-system.html

With the development of science and technology, a need arose for an international system of
measurement based on conveniently related units. In 1791, a committee of the French
Academy proposed a system based on the meter as the standard unit of length, liter as the
standard unit of volume, and the gram as the standard unit of mass. This metric system came
into general use throughout most of the world, but for some strange reason, it is still not
What is Science?

generally accepted in Great Britain and the United States. For scientific purposes, its
advantages are obvious and it has long been the universally accepted standard. Most
measurements made in this class will be recorded in metric units. We will start with the three
basic units in this section but more will be added as needed later. A fourth parameter, time, uses the
same units in both the metric and the English system so we don’t need to list that one in our chart.

In the metric system, basic units (meter, liter, gram, etc.) are increased or reduced decimally by
a series of standard prefixes. The prefixes which are most useful in our work are shown below
in the table on the next page.

NAMES AND SYMBOLS FOR METRIC PREFIXES

Prefix Symbol Multiplier Exponential Factor

kilo k 1,000 x 103


hecto h 100 x 102
deka da 10 x 101

METER, LITER, GRAM x 100

deci d 0.1 x 10-1


centi c 0.01 x 10-2
milli m 0.001 x 10-3

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