1Now playing: Mike and the Mechanics,“All I need is a Miracle”Lecture 1.1IntroductionWhom and what is your instructor?Applied Ecologist-Researcher?-Teacher?-Science & Agricultural PolicyExpert?-Family Man-Ph.D = Doctor of Philosophy,therefore, a philosopher?What is a Scientist?• publish scientific papers• belong to a scientific society • are married to, a nonscientist • watch news, documentaries, and movies on TV • spend 52 hours per week working • have an affiliation to an organized religion • play a musical instrument • spent 4.9 years in postdoc positions • travel to at least one scientific meeting per year • prepare a meal at home at least once per week • spend 10 hours per week lecturing and mentoring students • read fiction and nonfiction books • participate in sporting or athletic activities more than once per week • have lived in another country • watch a movie more than once per week, with comedies being the most popular genre • are motivated by innate curiosity • vote in national elections • spend at least one hour per day on the WebMore than 50% of the readers (The Scientist ) who responded to our surveys ...Who and What is Your Instructor?• Ph.D. = Doctor of Philosophy, therefore, a philosopher?• Research Scientist?• Life Science Teacher?• All Science??Big Problem:• What to teach?• How much to teach?Every teacher has a …Let me illustrate this problemEducation:BA- Pre-Med Biology, minor-Chemistry Trinity College, Deerfield, ILBioprocess Development- Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, ILPh.D.- Cell and Molecular Biology-Microbiology, Michigan State University2Information Overload!• I have over 125 credit hours of science classes• I have read a couple dozen science text books• I have read about 1800 research papers– 3562 in my reference manager– Only 230 in my thesis• I go to scientific seminars >5x more than I go to the video store.• I am familiar with less than 0.0000001 of the published scientific literature!How Much Info is There?• Michigan State’s Library (est.1955)• Main library and 14 branches• 4,000,000 volumes • 28,000 serial subscriptions (in print and electronic form) • 5,000,000 items in microfilm and microfiche • 200,000 maps • 40,000 sound recordingsThat’s Nothing!In 1814 the entire collection was 3,000 books. Today, the Library receives some 22,000 items each working day and adds approximately 10,000 items to the collections daily. The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with nearly 119 million items on over 530 miles of bookshelves. The collections include some 18 million books, 2 million recordings, 12 million photographs, 4 million maps, and 53 million manuscripts.020000000400000006000000080000000100000000120000000Ancient11001300150017001900Volumes of KnowledgeTimeDoubling Rate = 4.2 years!The Scientific LiteratureHow Does a Science Teacher Present a subject Given Such a Vast Amount of Information?• Most Prof’s won’t tell you their slant, bias or where it comes from…some don’t even acknowledge that they are biased. • There is no such thing as unbiased teaching!“bias” is choosing which material to teach taught.• Its up to you to figure it out…• Pledge: I will make every effort to present a balanced or at least both sides of a controversial arena in science, biology, ecology and the environment. But like every person, I am operating from a certain ‘worldview’ and I believe that you need to know what that worldview is. There is no such thing as “valueless teaching.”I want to teach you about the most important issues inscience and the environment facingyou as a citizen of the US and ahuman on the planet earth….3• Pledge: I will make every effort to present a balanced or at least both sides of a controversial arena in science, biology, ecology and the environment. But like every person, I am operating from a certain ‘worldview’ and I believe that you need to know what that worldview is. There is no such thing as “valueless teaching.”Worldview or Cosmology…What is the definition????What do I expect of You?Be a student! Chinese Proverb: “When the student …”– Engage biology positively!– Attend Class & do your assigned readings…– Ask questions in class...• Learn and understand the concepts that I teach you.• Be willing to see both sides of an issue…be open to change!• Recognize your privileged position in the world…• Become a ‘critical’ consumer of scientific information and exercise your citizenship.Now playing: Mike and the Mechanics,“All I need is a Miracle”Lecture 1.2Science: What is it?3Assignment:1. Read: Introduction in Textbook2. Websites: FYI & Ehttp://www.geog.umd.edu/homepage/courses/600/week01/group2/tsld001.htmhttp://home.earthlink.net/~imaginationworks/memes/medocf.htmhttp://www.shef.ac.uk/~phil/courses/312/01inductiv.htmhttp://marr.bsee.swin.edu.au/~dtl/het704/lecture3/logfals/node12.htmlhttp://www.aynrand.org/objectivism/ Lecture 1 Goals:1. Define Science2. Understand concepts of induction, deduction, falsification, Kuhn’s scientific revolution, objectivism, subjectivism, & Scientific Programs3. Relate these definitions of science throughout the course4. to the different areas we will explore this semester.Chapter 1: First Definition of Science:Opperational Science1stModel we willuse to understandwhat science is…Operational Science• Empirical Science– Observational, descriptive Science– Detecting patterns, or departures from patterns• Theoretical Science– Generating and testing models (hypothesis testing)– Concerned with explaining observations and making predictions• Technological Science– Generating new methods and processes– Troubleshooting4Operational ScienceBasic Assumptions/ Beliefs• Materialism and Naturalism1. Operate in a closed system2. Nothing interferes with the system3. All events are totally dependent on the whole system4. Natural explanation for all phenomena• Knowledge is based on methodology– Observation– Hypothesis– Experimentation– Dynamic, not staticScientific Reasoning(Propositional Logic)Inductive Logic• Reasoning from Experiences• Knowledge Expanding– Contains more information than premiseDeductive Logic• Start with general knowledge and predict a specific observation• Truth preserving– Contains less information than premisesTerms• Postulate- Premise, Fundamental Assumption • Principle•
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