Scientific Method
Thales of Miletus (624-546 B.C.) was the first to suggest a single material substratum for the universe--namely water or moisture. His cosmology proposes that all objects in the universe are composed of water. His choice of water as the component building block of all matter may have been due to the apparent motion of bodies of water and the conversion of water to vapor and back.
Anaximander of Miletus (610-545 B.C.) was the foremost student of Thales. He denied Thales claim that water was the basic matter of the universe, stating instead that the world was derived from apeiron (meaning "unlimited"). The state of apeiron preceeded the separation into other qualities, such as hot and cold or wet and dry , and thus
…show more content…
Each generation of scientists takes the knowledge, theories and cosmologies of the generations of scientists who came before, building and expanding on them in light of new developments and knowledge. Does the fact that a theory of our scientific forefathers, which had been universally accepted, is proven incorrect invalidate their efforts? I donÕt believe so, but Sir Karl Popper, in Science: Conjectures and Refutations, would seem to argue otherwise when he states that "the criterion of the scientific status of a theory is its falsifiability."
The modern scientific method is composed of several steps: observation, hypothesis, experimentation and verification. On observation of a phenomenon a scientist will attempt to interpret the phenomenon is light of current scientific knowledge (theory). The scientist will then attempt to develop experiments in which to determine the validity of the theory. Through this experimentation the theory will either be validated or disproved. Popper states that any experiment must be a serious attempt to disprove or invalidate the theory being tested, and further, that any theory so disproven cannot be considered science.
Poppers views descend from the fact that the physical laws, whether known or as yet undiscovered, are immutable. Science, though, is the discipline concerned with the search for these unchanging physical laws. The history of science is a progression of insights and revelations based on the
Thales is believed to have been born in the 620s BC in Miletus along with his parents. Thales was the first philosopher in Miletus, also known as the “master” in his era. Thales believed there was a scientific explanation to everything in the world . He was was recognized for his work that help us understand what it means to explain something according to logos. Miletus was home to the “Milesian School” of philosophy. Thales believed that there was a existence of a supernatural force that ruled over everything person or thing and that every matter had its god. Which lead the explanation to the nature of explaining the existence creation such as the solar system and the earth.
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
To support the theory of continental drift is through topography, surveying the floors of oceans, charts of rock magnetism, and statistics on rock ages (Trefil & Hazen, 2010). At one time scientist believed that the deep ocean floors were flat; accumulating the sediment that progressively wore away from the prehistoric landmasses (Trefil & Hazen, 2010). However, they discovered steep-walled valleys and elevated highlands. This was evidences that just as the continents are transformed and are active, so to is the seafloor (Trefil & Hazen, 2010). The Mid- Atlantic Ridge, positioned in the central part of the Atlantic Ocean, is recorded to be the longest mountain range on this planet. Volcanoes, lava flow, and earthquakes are a source of
New government data demonstrate the continued, urgent need for more Americans to have access to drug and alcohol addiction treatment, according to an analysis by the Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap (CATG) initiative. If implemented properly, federal health care reform legislation could help remove financial barriers to treatment for millions of Americans. *
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
There has been many misunderstandings about science over the years. People be thinking that scientific knowledge is absolute and that it never changes, but it's all wrong. Scientific knowledge is never absolute. Which means that nobody can ever actually find the final proof for any scientific theory. Whenever scientists are working on any type of theory they create some type of model, which is some type of idea that they have, which in most cases is wrong, scientists then keep researching further more and if they ever get any more details or anything that lists different than what the scientists thought they go back and change it. The reason that it's always
Thales was known the founder of the science because he was the first one to give the explanations of the natural events without considering the supernatural reasons or God factors.
If the outcome of an experiment contradicts the theory, one should refrain from ad hoc manoeuvres that evade the contradiction merely by making it less falsifiable. Popper is also known for his opposition to the classical justifications account of knowledge which he replaced with critical rationalism, "the first non-justification philosophy of criticism in the history of philosophy.””(The Free Press of Glencoe,
Sir Karl Popper, challenging the status quo, inspiring generations to ponder on the meaning of science, the methods to find truth, is one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. Of particular importance to scientific methods of inquiry is the brawl between the development of theory and the criteria for science. In Popper’s own words, it is in this brawl that Popper decided to “grapple with the problem: When should a theory be ranked as scientific? or Is there a criterion for the scientific character or status of a theory?” (Popper 1957), p. 1).
Instead, science and knowledge can and need to be depicted in a different light, which entails changes in the notions of objectivity, validity, reliability, and truth, rather than obliteration of these notions. It is quite telling that this was apparently clear to many scholars, already in the early twentieth century, who pioneered some of the most significant breakthroughs across humanities and sciences. For example, when William James stated in 1907, quite poetically and prophetically, that “[p]urely objective truth . . . is nowhere to be found” because “the trail of the human serpent is . . . over everything” (p. 60), this position did not imply a rejection of knowledge pursuits and of truth. Or, when Lev Vygotsky wrote that “everything described as a fact is already a theory” (1997a, p. 249) and that “pure objectivity in the educator is utter nonsense” (1997c, p. 349), he was not dismissing science and objectivity. Similarly, when Niels Bohr accepted the radical premise that “[i]t is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is” (quoted in Newton, 2009, p. 40), independently of our questions, instruments, and methodologies, this did not imply the impossibility of physics but instead, laid grounds for its most significant
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
Science: Conjectures and Refutations by Karl R. Popper is a piece of literature that takes scientific theories into question and asks whether or not they may even be considered truly scientific. In this paper I will provide reasons and examples as to why this thesis is correct. To begin I will talk about Poppers main idea or purpose of the paper, I will then go on to discuss his claims and how they support his paper. Finally I will talk about what it means if Popper is correct and give some reasons as to why people should believe his thesis.
In this essay I attempt to answer the following two questions: What is Karl Popper’s view of science? Do I feel that Thomas Kuhn makes important points against it? The two articles that I make reference to are "Science: Conjectures and Refutations" by Karl Popper and "Logic of Discovery or Psychology of Research?" by Thomas Kuhn.
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.
The origins of philosophy began with the dynamic question of “What if?” followed by intellectual reasoning for the ways of the world. To look past the general purpose of life and the things that come with it; is when a new philosophy is discovered. The first recorded philosopher came about early on in the sixth century B.C.E. His name was Thales of Miletus or what is now Turkey. The first three philosophers, Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes, are known as the Milesians because they all came from the Greek colony of Miletus on the Persian coast and because they constitute the first school of philosophy. (Pg. 24) However, little is known about Thales due to the fact, there weren’t any pieces of literature connecting to him. However, he did make it known that everything is fundamentally made up of water. This belief went against the theological perspectives of Greek mythology, introducing a more scientific view of the cosmos. Thales made it known that he wanted to find the Arche or unifying principle that linked every aspect of life together. According to Thales, water is the one and only Arche.