Phlogiston theory

1. What was phlogiston? Based on what theoretical and experimental bases did Lavoisier reject it? (68) Phlogiston is a substance that was once believed to be in all combustible materials. The phlogiston theory originated in Ancient Greek around 1667 by Johann Joachim Becher, a German physician who pursued alchemy. The purpose of this theory was to help explain why materials turned to ash after burning and why the break down of metals through rusting. The phlogiston theory states that flammable

seen scientific theories envisioned, published, critiqued, lauded and destroyed. Time is our witness as we analyze the many edits made to the holy text of science, and keeping in mind the irony of the previous sentence , I attempt to answer the question, “Is Modern Science a result of a few abrupt revolutions, or is it a carefully cumulative accumulation of knowledge”? I begin with a brief introduction as to what is meant by “revolution, “scientific revolution, “revolutionary theories” in the context

Dr. Brian McCarthy The Gifted Nature of Joseph Priestley Part 1: Rationale for choosing this person I became interested in Joseph Priestley during my undergraduate studies. The year I became involved in research was the same year that Furchgott, Ignarro and Murad won the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine based on their research into "nitric oxide as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system" (nobelprize.org). The most famous application of this work has been the male stimulant,

Carnap and Popper propose two different criteria of demarcation. Carnap proposes that theories be declared scientific based on whether they can be tested, at least in principle, and labels this his verification criteria. Popper’s method is based on whether a theory has empirical content which is the set of all possible excluded events proposed by a theory. The question is, is it possible to agree with both of these criteria? I would say no. The above criteria, by themselves, are not enough to govern

realism), or about tables and chairs themselves (external world realism), or about mathematical entities such as numbers and sets (mathematical realism), and so forth. Scientific realism is a realism about whatever is described by our best scientific theories—from this point forward, ‘realism’ here denotes scientific realism. But what, more precisely, is that? In order to be evident as to what realism, in the context of the sciences, amounts to and to distinguish it from some important antirealist alternatives

non-arbitrary) representation of the world. In the study of natural phenomenon, personal and cultural beliefs strongly influence our interpretations and perceptions. Scientific method relies on standard procedures to minimize these influences when developing a theory. Scientific method consists of four steps: (1)- Making an observation of a phenomenon. (2)- Formulating a hypotheses to explain the phenomenon. (3)- Proving the hypotheses correct by a series of experiments and tests. If the experiments do

This requires that there be a reasonable inference from a scientific theory 's success to its approximate truth. The argument that realists are trying to make is that the best explanation of a scientific theory 's success is that it is true. Larry Laudan refutes the realists ' argument from the success of science. To do this, he characterize his opposition as "Convergent Epistemological Realism." Convergent realism is a theory about the nature and history of science. Laudan identifies five central

realism), about tables and chairs themselves (external world realism), or about mathematical entities such as numbers and sets (mathematical realism), and so forth. Scientific realism is a realism about whatever is depicted by our best scientific theories—from this point forward, ‘realism’ here denotes scientific realism. But what, more precisely, is that? In order to be evident as to what scientific realism amounts to and to distinguish it from some important antirealist alternatives, it is useful

which is ill- defined, one definition is; Scientific realism is a positive epistemic attitude towards the content of our best theories and models, recommending belief in both observable and unobservable aspects of the world described by the science. (Anjan Chakravartty,2011). Also When looking at scientific realism it is said that it can be split in three different kinds; theory realism or epistemological, realism, entity realism or semantically realism and natural kind realism or metaphysical realism

usually by consensual power and sometimes by force. (Holmes, Hughes &Julian, 2007) There have been a number of differing views on ‘power over’ the many years in which it has been studied. Theorist such as Anthony Gidden in his works on structuration theory attempts to integrate basic