Science as a human endeavor

1. Science as a human endeavor

2. Each of you has been given a set of graphic interpretations put forth by six different scientists concerning the growth of knowledge in science. • Carefully study each of the interpretations given by the scientists. Be sure to read the explanations as well as examine the graphs. • Discuss these interpretations with your group and select the one that you find appropriate. If you find that none is appropriate, and you would like to present another idea, clearly illustrate or define your interpretation. • Make a brief note of the argument in SUPPORT of your selection. But ALSO provide at least one reason for each of the others as to why it has been rejected. Use examples from your own experience or study of science. • We will share our results after about 20 mins.

3. Journal Question: • Summarize/Review our discussion from yesterday—Choose one of the following to quick write about for 5 minutes. • What are the factors that limit or contribute to the stagnation or decline of knowledge in the natural sciences? • What are the different causes of the growth of scientific knowledge? • Do notions of science appear to becoming more complex as time goes by, or do ideas appear to be reducing to a simpler form? How would we assess such an issue? • Is knowledge truly cumulative?

4. What do you see?

6. Thomas Kuhn • Scientists do NOT work by falsification (according to him)—Structure of Scientific Revolutions. • “internal coherence” • Less than cumulative • Paradigm: A general way of doing something that has become widely accepted. A typical view, model, or set of parameters. • A paradigmis not always bad: Why? • Normal science is “Puzzle solving”, according to Kuhn— • “predicated on the assumption that the scientific community knows what the world is like.”

8. Geo-centric theory: ultimately “falsified” by Galileo (telescope=technology) • YEA!!? We learned something cool and new! Let’s change our world view!! Ummmm, nope. • What do you do if you find a result that contradicts a widely held theory? • You have failed to spot the error. • The famous theory is wrong. • KEY QUESTION: Do we expect too much from science???

9. http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=12162363

10. Review—Formative Assessment • 5 Minutes: In a brief paragraph, explain the Kuhn model of scientific development. Ready?...Go!

11. People and Science… • “It is the normal practice of scientists to ignore evidence which appears incompatible with the accepted system of scientific knowledge, in the hope that it will eventually prove false or irrelevant.”—Michael Polanyi • “If the facts don’t fit in, why so much the worse for the facts.” • What other human factors influence scientific inquiry? • Personal bias (Texas school board committee on science standards…) • Nobel Prizes/awards • Emotion • Financial motivation/funding (sugar studies, tobacco)

12. The ultimate irony? • Kuhn’s own redefining of science is a paradigm shift itself

13. Quotes from Kuhn… • “And each (revolution) transformed the scientific imagination in ways that we shall ultimately need to describe as a transformation of the world within which scientific work was done.” • (rhetorical) “How could history of science fail to be a source of phenomena to which theories about knowledge may legitimately be asked to apply?”

14. For more on this, read… • “The Distorting Lense” • “Take the Money” • “Big Brains Bought by Big Tobacco” (See my website under “Natural Science”)

15. is poetry in motion!

16. The One Where Heckle Dies • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXr2kF0zEgI • What is Ross’s point about science? • What is Phoebe’s point about science? • Write KNOWLEDGE questions that arise from this clip. Be sure to use the WOWs (WORDS on the WALL) in your questions to help ensure that they are grounded in TOK.