Nature of Science Types of Science 1 Discovery Science going and looking Mars Penicillin Fossil Record Human Genome 2 Hypothesis driven propose and idea then test Hypothesis a tentative answer to a question an educated guess Science is driven by A Observation and a belief that the world is inherently understandable B Doing experiments designed to explain observations observations DIRECT OUR THINKING we don t build a reality to fit pre conceived notions 1 Observation 2 Question 3 Hypothesis 4 Prediction 5 Test Control is the part of an experiment that does not vary so that other treatments can be compared to a standard and the effects of variables determined Variable an element in an experiment that is changed C Science has to be TESTABLE THEORY An accumulation of FACTS demonstrates again and again that observations are correct and consistent Underlying principles are discovered that TIE TOGETHER observations that previously seemed un related Newton Einstein Darwin each did this Theories have EXPLANATORY POWER PREDICTIVE POWER Falsifyability science is obliged to allow evidence to discredit a theory It is the external world not internal conviction that defines how we interpret the world As theory becomes irrefutable and incontrovertible as evidence accumulates it takes on the character of FACT Changed minds and over thrown theories are the STRENGTH of science not its weakness The THEORY OF GRAVITY as fact Before Newton all was believed to be divinely caused Newton introduced the idea of a mechanistic universe after Newton physicists would exclude divine design from theories regarding how the physical world operated The concept of evolution was as revolutionary a change to Western thought in the way it propelled knowledge from a medieval understanding to a modern understanding as were the theories of Copernicus and Newton Evolution as fact a synthesis of biology geology physics cosmology as vital to an understanding of biology as gravity is to an understanding of space
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