Pre-lab 1- Myths in Science
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Lab Section:___________
Pre-lab 1- Myths in Science (10 pts)
Read the introduction and “myths” 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, & 9 in the article, The Principle Elements of the Nature of Science: Dispelling the Myths, by W.F. McComas (Posted on Blackboard in the lab folder). Complete the questions below and turn this page in at the beginning of lab.
PLEASE ALWAYS WEAR CLOSED TOED SHOES AND PANTS TO LAB!
1) Explain what the author means when he says that there is no well-accepted theory of gravity.
Answer
A scientific law or scientific principle is a concise verbal or mathematical statement of a relation that expresses a fundamental principle of science, like Newton’s law of universal gravitation. A scientific law must always apply under the same conditions, and implies a causal relationship between its elements. A law differs from a scientific theory in that it does not posit a mechanism or explanation of phenomena: it is merely a distillation of the results of repeated observation. As such, a law limited in applicability to circumstances resembling those already observed, and is often found to be false when extrapolated.
2) Compare the difference between the application of laws in biology versus the physical sciences.
Answer
The main difference is that Biology deals with living organisms, but the ramifications of this fact go beyond just the subject matter, because it also affects the nature of the scientific methods employed by biologists.
Understanding Organisms: One approach to understanding a phenomenon is to reduce it to its fundamental aspects, and, by understanding each component, you can gain some appreciation of the overall process. This approach, often referred to as reductionism, is useful, especially in the physical sciences, where, for example, a knowledge of the behavior of individual atoms allows you to predict the dynamics of a reaction system. However, the hierarchical organization of biological systems makes it impossible to understand all aspects of even a single organism by studying each of its components. Furthermore, there are certain biological processes, like Natural Selection, which cannot be predicted based on only a knowledge of Physics and Chemistry. In other words, the entire range of material phenomena are to be found in biological systems, whereas Physics and Chemistry only deal with a subset of these phenomena.
3) Explain what is meant by “generalizing” versus “explanatory” when applied to hypotheses.
Answer
Hypothesis simply means an educated guess. The reality of hypothesis can be complex. Explanatory hypothesis often referred as Trial Theory, is where hypothesis relates to an idea that may become a theory with more evidence and agreement from scientists. In other words, the trial hypothesis or idea is not yet validated, but if it is it becomes a scientific theory. While
Generalizing hypothesis or trial law is where hypothesis relates to an idea that may become a law with more evidence and agreement from scientists. In other words, the trial hypothesis or idea is not yet validated, but if it is it becomes a scientific law.
4) Explain the problem of induction in your own words and provide an example to illustrate this problem.
Answer
The problem of induction is the philosophical question of whether inductive reasoning leads to knowledge understood in the classic philosophical sense, since it focuses on the alleged lack of justification for either:
Generalizing about the properties of a class of objects based on some number of observations of particular instances of that class (for example, the inference that “all swans we have seen are white, and therefore all swans are white”, before the discovery of black swans) or
Presupposing that a sequence of events in the future will occur as it always has in the past (for example, the laws of physics will hold as they have always been observed to hold).
5) In your own words, explain why a scientist should never say that their hypothesis is “proven true”?
Answer
Well since a hypothesis is an educated guess it only come from what you think. It’s almost like an opinion. Example. If someone doesn’t like a movie but you say it’s the best, you can’t prove it to somebody else because it all depends on their opinion. Or another way to explain it is if you were talking to the person who didn’t like the movie you can’t prove it to them that it was good because that person has another opinion and thinks the opposite.
6) What does it mean for something to be falsifiable? Provide an example of a falsifiable hypothesis and a non-falsifiable hypothesis.
Answer
A statement is called falsifiable if it is possible to conceive an observation or an argument which proves the statement in question to be false. In this sense, falsify is synonymous with nullify, meaning not “to commit fraud” but “show to be false”.
For example, Newton’s Theory of Gravity was accepted as truth for centuries, because objects do not randomly float away from the earth. It appeared to fit the figures obtained by experimentation and research, but was always subject to testing.
However, Einstein’s theory makes falsifiable predictions that are different from predictions made by Newton’s theory, for example concerning the precession of the orbit of Mercury, and gravitational lensing of light. In non-extreme situations Einstein’s and Newton’s theories make the same predictions, so they are both correct. But Einstein’s theory holds true in a superset of the conditions in which Newton’s theory holds, so according to the principle of Occam’s Razor, Einstein’s theory is preferred. On the other hand, Newtonian calculations are simpler, so Newton’s theory is useful for almost any engineering project, including some space projects. But for GPS we need Einstein’s theory.
7) Consider the first chapter reading from the text book, give an example of a scientist(s) failure to be objective when drawing conclusions from their data in that reading.
Answer
Steven Jay Gould pointed out in science textbook “The Case of the Creeping Fox Terrier Clone (1988)”
The “fox terrier” refers to the classic comparison used to express the size of the dawn horse, tiny precursor to the modern horse. This comparison was unfortunate because of two reasons. Not only was this horse ancestor much bigger than a fox terrier, but the fox terrier breed of dog is virtually unknown to American students.
The major criticism leveled by Gould is that once this comparison took hold, no one bothered checking its validity or utility. Through time, one author after another simply repeated the inept comparison and continued a tradition making many science texts virtual clones of each other on this and countless other points.
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Edited 8/26/15 Biology 111 Lab Page
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