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1.what Is Science

The document discusses the definition and key characteristics of science. It explains that science seeks to obtain precise knowledge about the natural world through observation and experimentation. Some key points made are: 1) Science aims to understand nature through theories that help explain origins like the Big Bang theory and evolution, as well as behaviors of matter through theories like quantum theory and relativity. 2) Characteristics of science include it being a process of discovery based on evidence not opinion, giving tentative conclusions open to revision, and being based on logic not faith. 3) Science provides useful knowledge that advances technologies while remaining neutral on moral or aesthetic issues.

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23 views

1.what Is Science

The document discusses the definition and key characteristics of science. It explains that science seeks to obtain precise knowledge about the natural world through observation and experimentation. Some key points made are: 1) Science aims to understand nature through theories that help explain origins like the Big Bang theory and evolution, as well as behaviors of matter through theories like quantum theory and relativity. 2) Characteristics of science include it being a process of discovery based on evidence not opinion, giving tentative conclusions open to revision, and being based on logic not faith. 3) Science provides useful knowledge that advances technologies while remaining neutral on moral or aesthetic issues.

Uploaded by

thea.frendo
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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1. What is science?

Since time immemorial humans have tried to explain the world around them and sought
answers to basic questions:
• Where does the world come from?
• Why do we have seasons?
• Why hasn’t it rained for so long?
For millennia, humans relied on supernatural/religious explanations – myths (traditional
stories without factual basis) that were handed down from one generation to the next.
It was the early Greek philosophers (the pre-Socratics) who first rejected myths and sought
natural rather than supernatural explanations for the natural processes occurring around us.
Through a long, and incremental development of ideas and methodologies, these early efforts
at understanding nature would eventually lead to science as we understand it today.
We all need science – science allows us to unravel our past, helps us with our present and
provides solutions for our future. Yet we tend to remain passive about science – clearly the
public needs to be made more aware about the role of science in society.
The word science is derived from the Latin word scienta (meaning knowledge)
Science is a way of understanding our world and beyond – it seeks to obtain precise and
reliable knowledge about what is around us through observation, accurate measurement,
and experimentation.
Science has been defined in different ways. Below is one definition:

Science is the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the
structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and
experiment (Oxford dictionary)

“Science does not purvey absolute truth; science is a mechanism. It’s a way of trying to
improve your knowledge of nature, it’s a system for testing your thoughts against the universe
and seeing whether they match” (Isaac Asimov – biochemist and science fiction author)
In terms of functionality, the main aim or function of science is understanding nature

Scientific theories help us answer questions about origins of nature

• The Big Bang Theory - the origin of the Universe


• Theory of Stellar Evolution - The origin of stars and hence our solar system
• Theory of Evolution – the diversification of life over time

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Scientific theories also help us understand the behaviour of matter:

• Quantum Theory – the behaviour of energy & matter at the atomic/sub-atomic level
• Theory of Relativity – a theory of gravitation accounting for the properties and
behaviour of the Universe
• Plate Tectonics – explains continental drift, volcanism, earthquakes, orogeny

Characteristics of Science
● Science is both a body of knowledge and a process – a process of discovery that helps
link together isolated facts so that we can better understand the natural world
● Science is based on evidence not on opinion or popular support – hence it is not
democratic
● Science gives reliable but still tentative conclusions – Scientific theories (explanations
supported by evidence) may possibly be eventually found to be incorrect or
incomplete and discarded or revised based on new evidence

“Science is a history of corrected mistakes” Karl Popper (1902 – 1994)

“That fellow Einstein . . . every year retracts what he wrote the year
before” (Albert Einstein about himself)

● Science is based on logic and evidence not on faith – it explains what is observed in
nature – explanations involving superstition, religious texts, miracles, and religious
dogma have no place in science
● Scientific knowledge is amenable to falsification – it should be possible to show that
a statement can be incorrect
● Science does not make moral or aesthetic decisions – science can provide us with
knowledge – knowledge that allows us to be able to build a stable, very high rise
building – yet it cannot tell us whether or not the building is beautiful or ugly – this is
a purely subjective issue outside science.
● Science is ongoing – as we get to know more about the universe, we generate more
questions that themselves become the target of new investigations.
● Science is very, very useful – the knowledge derived from science is used to develop
newer and better technologies (medicine, communications, materials etc).

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