Bio 105 1st Edition Exam # 1 Study Guide"Science is nothing but trained and organized common sense." TH Huxley (evolutionary biology) "Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge." Carl Sagan (astronomy)“Science is the concerted human effort to understand, or to understand better, the history of the natural world and how the natural world works, with observable physical evidence as the basis of that understanding.” Bruce Railsback (geology) "Science is... one of the great human endeavors to be ranked with arts and religion as the guide and expression of man's fearless quest for truth." Sir Richard Arman Gregory (astronomy)I. Why does everyone need to study science?A. Ours is the most scientifically advanced society ever found on Earth, but many people don’t understand science and even reject it in favor of ancient practices, their feelings, and pseudoscience. 1. People sometimes refuse science-based medicine without understanding how it differs from non-scientific or traditional medical practices. These are potentially life-threatening misunderstandings. a. Homeopathy: there is no medicine in homeopathic medications. b. Refusal of vaccinations: vaccines have prevented many thousands of child deaths from disease, and are not associated with autism or any other condition. However, rates of vaccine-preventable disease are increasing in parts of the US, with sometimes fatal resultsc. Acupuncture: scientific studies show that ‘sham acupuncture’ is generally as effective as actual acupuncture2. People ignore science-based estimates of sea level rise because they don’t like the uncomfortable scientific facts and therefore conclude that they must be incorrect. B. Human civilization right now faces some of the greatest challenges to our survival that we have ever faced. 1. Even non-scientists need to understand scientists, and can help by seeing that scientific solutions are accepted and implemented.II. Characteristics of scienceA. Science is both a body of knowledge and the process by which that knowledge is acquired. B. Science is evidence-based1. It can’t be changed because of people’s feelings, preferences, beliefs, intuition, etc. a. Science does not try to support pre-determined positions, but is open to all evidenceb. The methods, tests, and reasoning used by scientists should be completely open, explicit, andtransparent. C. Science is the foundation of civilization and an important part of what separates humans from animals1. Science defines and investigates both the critical challenges to human existence and theirsolutions2. Science expands our horizons in many waysa. Science provides great, beautiful, inspiring and thought-provoking experiences b. Science helps people understand our place in the universe and what else the universe has to offerD. Science is an ongoing global human endeavor with important contributions from all time periods and all societies.III. A brief history of scienceA. Ancient people needed to know how the world worked for their survival. 1. They studied questions in biology, medicine, astronomy, and physics. 2. They did not separate science from other belief systemsa. Their explanations of natural phenomena included elements of mythology, theology, and philosophy mixed together. B. Classical Greeks like Aristotle (384-322 BCE) began to develop science as a way of understanding nature. 1. They made observations and did experiments, especially “thought experiments" to answer questions about how the world worked. 2. They wrote many textbooks on medicine, physics, and agriculture C. In the 4th to 15th centuries, science stagnated in Europe. People still relied on the ancients for their understanding of nature. 1. Writings of authority figures like Aristotle, Galen, and Dioscorides were studied2. People did not make their own observations or do experiments; there was little growth in scientific knowledge. D. During the 8th to 13th century’s science flourished in the Arab world. Arab scientists made enormous progress in medicine, astronomy, chemistry, and math, which was eventually shared with Europeans. E. Not until the Renaissance did Europeans realize that they could contribute to science rather than repeating ancient ideas. 1. Example: demonstration of blood flow by Dr. William Harvey, 1628 2. Galileo (1564 -1642) is considered the "first scientist", at least in the European tradition, because he developed the scientific method. This new methodology and improvements in science technology and communication resulted in the scientific revolution.F. The scientific revolution changed how people thought. 1. They began to take a more rationalistic, mechanistic view of how life and the universe worked. They began to realize that things happen for understandable reasons. 2. The scientific revolution improved lives through medical advances, progress in agriculture andfood distribution, and the creation of new products3. The scientific method seems obvious to us now, but Europeans prior to Galileo did NOT use it. a. Copernicus (1473-1543), famous for his hypothesis that the Earth moves around the sun, did not test his hypothesis with observations, although he could have easily done so. His ideas made sense and seemed correct. They greatly simplified the calculations needed to predict the positions of the planets. G. the Royal Society of England, founded in 16601. Was the first scientific organization 2. Its members published research, exchanged ideas, and formed the first community of scientists. A. rate of scientific progress increased enormously when scientists could criticize and build upon each other's work. B. members were doctors, bankers or businessmen who were curious about nature and enjoyed doing science in their spare time H. Today, science is usually done by professionals paid by state or federal funds, or by corporations, to do research. 1. Applied research is done to achieve a goal, like a better way to control pests or treat diseases. 2. Basic research answers questions about the natural world which interest the scientist. I. Checks built into the system of science funding and publication ensure quality work. 1. Scientists compete for limited funding, to get it they must convince panels of other scientists that their question is important and their