Science and Reason

1. Science and Reason

2. What is Reasoning? • Historically, mental reasoning was given primacy and it was widely accepted that mental reasoning alone could lead to revelation of truth. • In the present day practice of science, exclusive reliance on mental processes are involved only in some stages of scientific work, but not all.

3. What is Science? Science has Scientific methodology Experiment, Observation and Inference form an integral part of scientific method. Science depends on Facts on Reasoning

4. Mental reasoning alone is not Science Science involves the interplay between mental reasoning and real-life experimentation

5. Kepler’s story: An example of how a scientific theory evolves Kepler’s famous three laws took 10 years to formulate Kepler attempted to match Tycho Brahe’s observations with Copernicus’ circular orbit scheme. Mars’ orbit did not fit this scheme. Two data points lied outside the circular path and only an elliptic orbit fitted the data. In 1609, Kepler observed that the planets moved faster when they are closer to the sun and slower when they are farther. Thus the planets swept equal areas in equal intervals of time. The discovery of the two laws (from Newton’s discovery later) showed that gravitation is attractive everywhere in the orbit. .

6. Criticisms and Advances Kepler’s idea of elliptical orbits did not find favour with Galileo and Descartes. Even Kepler himself was initially a strong believer in the “divine symmetry” provided by the circular orbits. His own work compelled him to abandon the idea. Kepler then found that the Time of revolution of the planet (T) is related to the planet’s average distance from the sun (L) by the equation T2 is proportional to L3. In this way, mathematics became the language of natural science. Kepler’s laws have many applications in astrophysics. They have aided the calculation of the dates for transit of Venus and transit of Mercury. Even the launch of present day satellites including our very own Mangalyaan are dependent on the landmark laws of Kepler.

7. Nature of scientific knowledge Science begins with the premise that the “system” exists" and knowledge is tentative. Science clearly draws the boundaries within which it can correctly explain and predict events. Science is not a revelation of a permanent truth. Science tries to find truth subject to the knowledge available in a particular era. Newton’s laws in mechanics were thought to be true for 200 years until its limits were found in late 19th century. That does not mean Newton’s laws are invalid. They are valid when the speed of the object is not comparable to the speed of light or when motion takes place in regions larger than atomic dimensions.

8. Science is inherently intertwined Science is not a set of separate compartments of knowledge Rather science tries to provide a holistic understanding of our Universe and therefore scientific ideas on different aspects of the Universe tend to coalesce into one whole. The forces of electricity and magnetism are interconnected.They go hand-in-hand in producing electromagnetic waves. Light is an electromagnetic wave too. This challenged Galilean and Newton’s mechanistic understanding of the Universe and gave rise to Einstein’s special theory of relativity. E = mC2 in turn showed that mass and energy of two forms of the same. Additionally, the inability of classical physics to explain the change in colour of objects when heated gave rise to quantum mechanics.

9. Science and Superstitions Human beings’ close observation of nature taught them about tides, sunrise and sunset, seasonal floods and movement of stars move across the night sky. They were able to correlate the change in seasons charcaterised by these observations.They related it to fate of human beings itself.Thus astrology was born. Astrology and Astronomy were inseparable for a long time in human history. In fact, Kepler himself was an astrologer. However, he did not let this cloud his understanding of the Universe and thus paved the way to become the last astronomer who was also an astrologer.

10. Science and superstitions Science always sets it limits to what it can explain. Science does not follow a prescriptive role. Spiritualists use this “limitation” to push forward their own messiahs. We know that everyone has to die. But science cannot say who will die when. It can only assign certain probabilities based on various factors. In this space provided by science, people who want more assurances seek astrology. Science offers the possibility to interpret the world as well as change it. As PSM activists, we need to do both. Look at every day experience as a way of interpreting the world, and to look for ways in which we can change what we think needs changing.