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science is the pursuit and application of knowledge
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A field can be defined as a sphere of knowledge focused on a particular subject, activity or thought. Science is a field that utilizes the human imagination, the unbiased testing of hypotheses, and paradigms in order to understand the natural world.
Overall, the imagination is one of the bases for science, as scientists make use of it in order to create concepts for hypotheses and experiments to test in reality. In “The Reach of Imagination”, Jacob Bronowski defines the imagination as the specifically human cognitive ability to envision images, words, and symbols inside one’s mind at will (7). All fields are powered by the human imagination and its capability to come up with new concepts that can further knowledge; this not only includes science, but also all of the branches of the social sciences and the humanities as well. However, science is distinguished from other disciplines because imagined ideas must be tested out in real life in some sort of physical manner. As an illustration, Bronowski points out the example of the differences between the knowledge of science and the knowledge of literature: “In science, the imaginary experiment is tested by confronting it with physical experience; and in literature, the imaginative conception is tested by confronting it with human experience” (6). Literature, a branch of the humanities, deals with the imagination by putting one’s personal thoughts into writing and in turn, those who read the composition are able to enter the world the author has created in his or her mind via a personal, emotional experience. This is the opposite of science, where imagined ideas for experimentations do not involve human emotions or other intangible notions. Instead, this particular sphere of knowled...
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...and standards for scientific practice. That commitment and the apparent consensus it produces are prerequisites for normal science” (Kuhn 71). In the end, if paradigms are not followed, then the foundation of science will be destroyed. One of the main purposes of science is to discover the truth about the natural world and how it works—if everyone began disagreeing about other’s scientific data and continually argue about what is the right way to conduct experiments, then the truth will never come into being because of all the conflict.
Taken as a whole, in the field of science the ideas created by the human imagination are what fuel the basis for scientific hypotheses. In turn, these hypotheses are then tested in reality following paradigms and utilizing unbiased analysis with the overall goal to try to understand the functions of the natural world and its past.
Polkinghorne asserts that “scientists are motivated by the desire understand what is happening in the world.”(551, Polkinghorne). As a physicist himself, Polkinghorne understands the desire to understand the world, even shifting careers to become a priest to better his understanding. Science asks how things happen, and does not attempt to answer every question. Questions asking why go ignored, as if they are not necessary to fully understand the world and the life that lives here. Science alone
Any hypothesis, Gould says, begins with the collection of facts. In this early stage of a theory development bad science leads nowhere, since it contains either little or contradicting evidence. On the other hand, Gould suggests, testable proposals are accepted temporarily, furthermore, new collected facts confirm a hypothesis. That is how good science works. It is self-correcting and self-developing with the flow of time: new information improves a good theory and makes it more precise. Finally, good hypotheses create logical relations to other subjects and contribute to their expansion.
concludes that the possible must be conceivable by the imagination but that the imagination's capacity to visualize extends beyond the mere possible (White 179-183).
Science is a study that can be viewed and interpreted in various ways. Some believe science to be based on facts and specific results, while others believe it to be based on creativity and spontaneity. In his account of the 1918 flu epidemic, The Great Influenza, John M. Barry characterizes scientific research as work that requires creativity, spontaneity, and intelligence through his use of rhetorical devices such as allusions, metaphors, and rhetorical questions.
Science is the knowledge gained by a systematic study, knowledge which then becomes facts or principles. In the systematic study; the first step is observation, the second step hypothesis, the third step experimentation to test the hypothesis, and lastly the conclusion whether or not the hypothesis holds true. These steps have been ingrained into every student of science, as the basic pathway to scientific discovery. This pathway holds not decision as to good or evil intention of the experiment. Though, there are always repercussions of scientific experiments. They range from the most simplistic realizations of the difference between acid and water to the principle that Earth is not the center of the Universe. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein depicts this very difference in the story of Victor Frankenstein. A scientist who through performing his experiments creates a monster which wreaks havoc upon humanity. Frankenstein concentrating wholly upon discovery ignores the consequences of his actions.
Generally, science is a hotly discussed and vehemently debated topic. It is difficult to achieve consensus in science, considering the fact that ideas are diverse about even science definition, leave alone the true interpretations and meaning of scientific experiments, philosophies and discoveries. However, these arguments, disagreements as well as continuous trials to find a better reasoning, logic and explanation are exactly what have always been driving science progress from art to art form. It is worth noting that, in Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction, the Author-Samir Okasha explore various way of looking at science via the prism of life by citing a variety of scientific experiments, and providing examples from history of science.
...g organism that evolves over time and combines various different processes (in our case ideas, beliefs, values, etc…) in an efficient manner to produce a field that effectively answers many problems that we have about the world. To me, It is a given fact that scientists are humans as well, humans who bring with them a wide range of beliefs, experiences, knowledge, etc…. and the way that science works is through a process of all of these various beliefs, experiences, knowledge, etc…. coming together to try and find a solution that in the end is void of such subjective matters. Every scientist interprets data in a different way, and for science to make progress all scientist have to agree on a common conclusion to such data. As Longino explains, after peer review, criticisms, and revision the final product is a solution that explains the world in an objective manner.
Kuhn’s book was focused on the scientific world. He said that normal science “means research firmly based upon one or more past scientific achievments, achievments thatsome particular scientific community aacknowledges for a time as supplying the foundation for its further practice” (Kuhn 10). These achievments needed to be unprecedented and open-ended so as to attract a group away from competing ideas and to leave all sorts of problems for this group to resolve. these achievments are called paradigms. a paradigm is defined by Kuhn as “an accepted canon of scientific practice, including laws, theory, applications, and instrumentation, that provides a model for a particular coherent tradition of scientific research” (Trigger 5).
Science has played a significant role in the development of society. Other world views, such as Hum...
The two fundamental components of Kuhn’s proposition of scientific revolutions are the concepts of paradigms and paradigm shifts. He defines paradigms as “sufficiently unprecedented [theories] to attract an enduring group of adherents away from competing modes of scientific activity” (Kuhn, 10). Through this interpretation, Kuhn constructs the argument that possessing the ability to convince other scientists to agree with a novel proposal serves as the most crucial aspect for establishing scientific advancement. Kuhn reasons that the task of discovering “one full, objective, true account of nature” remains to be highly improbable (Kuhn...
Science is the body of organized knowledge. Science is the collection of ideas and theories and the methodology used by people to prove them. It is the set of methods that people follow in order to explain the things that they see, the things that they perceive and the things that they believe in.
In this essay, I aim to discuss the issue whether imagination is more important than knowledge. “For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there will ever be to know and understand” (Albert Einstein).
Nature of science or NOS is a term that refers to the epistemic knowledge of science, the knowledge of constructs and values that are intrinsic to the subject. The constructs and values include historical groundwork to scientific discovery and social incorporation such as sociology, philosophy, and history of science (“Nature of Science”). Nature of science, in my opinion, should not be explicitly taught in high school science curriculum. The basis for my standing on the issue is representative of the lack of a fundamental standard understanding of what Nature of Science is, as well as the lack of effectiveness in explicitly teaching Nature of Science which I will expand on further in
The first question that arises while talking about Science is what exactly is Science? Science can be defined as an effort to understand the nature and how natural world works. It is the systematic observation of natural phenomena. It is about gaining deeper and deeper understanding of the physical world.
Science is a method of understanding how things work. It is important because we need science in order for things to work and to develop new technology that is used in every day life. It is personally important to me because I really want to become a vet when I get older and I would need to do really well in science. Even though science isn’t exactly my best subject, I am willing to put in the hard work and determination so I may eventually get better and learn what I need to know.