Packet II: The Scientific Method

Darwin’s theory of evolution was a ground-breaking discovery for the study of life. Although Darwin gets most of the credit for the discovery his influences Charles Lyell, the father of geology and Erasmus Darwin, a pre-Darwinian evolutionist, made great contributions to the theory. The majority of the scientific community was quite receptive to Darwin’s evolution by natural selection theory because it provided an explanation for many things that the current origin of life theory, special creation, did not. The scientific community did have some trouble accepting his work because it did not describe how the evolving genes were transferred from generation to generation which was a very important piece of information that would solidify his for

The development of the scientific method in the late 1500’s to the early 1600’s was a crucial stepping-stone in the science community. The scientific method is based upon observations, hypotheses and experimentation. The concept is rather simple, and can be applied to many areas of study. Once an observation is made, the observer can make a hypothesis as to why that phenomenon occurs and can then design an experiment to prove whether or not that hypotheses is valid. Although the scientific method has been extremely useful in the discovery of various things from usages of medications to studying animal behavior, there are still those who question the usage of this tool. These critics claim that since

Darwin’s theory of evolution was along the lines of all life being related- each descending from a common ancestor. His theory presumes the development of life from non-life and suggests purely naturistic

Although Darwin’s (1809-1882) work in evolutionary observation might appear radically different from those focused on other areas, the theories he developed from these observation lead to such groundbreaking publishing’s as The Origin of Species. These intern caused an upset within the then accepted norms of philosophy and religion, had a profound impact on the academia, and further

Charles Darwin includes an effective beginning for his work, Natural Selection. By introducing his theory with a set of questions, interest to continue reading is developed. One question Darwin poses is the possibility of how one can survive, taking into account the circumstances of climate and traits. An interesting concept Darwin alludes to is that some individuals possess certain traits that enable them to survive. Another method implemented in the beginning of Darwin’s piece is the broadness of the context. Darwin does not go into any specifics right away, as the reader will learn more as they continue. “Let it be borne in mind how infinitely complex and close fitting are the mutual relations of all organic beings to each other and to their physical conditions of life” (Darwin 900). Darwin accounts for how unique each organism is, but generalizes the statement by categorizing all organisms as complex. By doing this, the reader is inclined to continue

The debate between the Design Argument and The Theory of Evolution has garnered endless disputes. The Design Argument, DA, is the argument that a higher entity exists and that he designed all life sources with a purpose in mind. Charles conceived the Theory of Evolution, TE. His theory was not assembled to explain the origin of life; it was to explain the origin of species. The fine-tuning argument is a rebuttal that I will also be discussing thoroughly.

The Scientific Method is the standardized procedure that scientists are supposed to follow when conducting experiments, in order to try to construct a reliable, consistent, and non-arbitrary representation of our surroundings. To follow the Scientific Method is to stick very tightly to a order of experimentation. First, the scientist must observe the phenomenon of interest. Next, the scientist must propose a hypothesis, or idea in which the experiments will be based around. Then, through repeated experimentation, the hypothesis can either be proven false or become a theory. If the hypothesis is proven to be false, the scientist must reformulate his or her ideas and come up with another hypothesis, and the experimentation begins again. This

In 1837, Charles Darwin was traveling aboard the H.M.S. Beagle in the Eastern Pacific when he stopped on the Galapagos Islands. There, Darwin found a wide array of animals including the Galápagos finches. The differences that he uncovered between these animals sparked Darwin’s interest; he had never before seen nor attempted to understand the similarities and differences inherent within these species. Examining each and uncovering the probable reasons for their distinctions, namely their differing needs for adaptation, Darwin constructed his theory of natural selection. From his observations on the Galapagos Islands, Darwin continued developing his research into eventually what became known as the Origin of Species, published in 1858. In this book, he asserted that these animals and differing species did not just appeared out of thin air, but rather had evolved from other species through the process of natural selection. Yet, his scientific findings were not accepted by the general public when first published, nor long after. Instead, they sparked a great uproar and criticism, since for most people accepted the theory of the Creation, the belief of divine creation, as the way people and species appeared on earth. His findings, so contrary to the then accepted norm of creation, were met with hostility and resentment by many who considered his work

Dating back to the 17th century, the scientific method is a systematic way to research a question or problem. It first starts with asking the question you are interested, including the "how, what, when, where, why, who", etc. The next step is to do more research to learn the background of what you are inquiring. After that, you create a hypothesis or educated guess to predict an outcome to the question you are testing. It should be easy to measure. Next, you test the hypothesis in a fair and unbiased experiment while changing factors that affect your guessed outcome. This should be done multiple times to prove it is not just a random chance. After this, you analyze the data and draw a conclusion based on your findings. This is where you check

Darwin knew that his theory faced many masalah.Ia acknowledged this in his book on the chapter " Difficulties of the Theory " . These difficulties mainly on the fossil record and complex organs of living things ( eg the eye ) which may not be explained by coincidence , and the instincts of living beings . Darwin hoped that these difficulties will be overcome by new discoveries ; but nevertheless he still put forward a number of very inadequate explanations for some.

Lamarck suggested features acquired during the life of an organism could be passed on to its offspring.

Hodge and Gregory Radick, have fittingly organized chapters along methodological lines, and the abruptness between sections is to some extent an artifact of decades of exciting and bewildering disputes over Darwin and Darwinism.... an ideal companion, ushering the reader into conversations already underway.... its aim is rather to shepherd the reader in search of deeper and more expansive

Karl Popper is commonly regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of science in the 20th Century. He is well known for his rejection of the inductivist viewpoint of the scientific method, in which one uses observation to propose a law to generalize an observed pattern, and later confirm that law through more observation. Popper states that “induction cannot be logically justified” (Popper 14). Inductivism relies on the process of inductive reasoning which is a logical process in which multiple premises, all thought to be true and found to be true most of the time, are combined to obtain a conclusion and in many cases formulate a law or theory. Popper rejected the inductivist viewpoint in favor of a theory called empirical falsification which holds that a theory can never be proven, but it can be falsified, and therefore it can and needs to be scrutinized through experimentation.

Karl Popper is one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century believed that strength of a scientific theory lies in its both being susceptible to falsification, and not actually being falsified by criticism made of it. He considered that if a theory cannot, in principle, be falsified by criticism, it is not a scientific theory.

Popper dives right into the first point that he believes is fundamental to the area of science, which he has called ‘empirical science’ (Popper). He describes it as creating a hypothesis and testing it against his experience to either confirm the hypothesis or