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What is science? • Science is the study of the natural world in an attempt to explain how it works. What is a scientific theory? • A scientific theory is the best explanation based on evidence of why things are or why a phenomenon takes place without regards to how it works or behaves. • Example: The Theory of Gravitation set forth by Einstein is the best explanation of why objects attract each other in that massive objects warp the space around them and objects are simply following the warped space when the are attracted. What is a scientific law? • Scientific laws attempt to explain describe phenomena without regards to why it works. Laws often use equations to describe. • Example: the Law of Gravitation F = G m1m2 / d2 Science is • • • • • • • • Consistent Observable Natural Predictive Peer reviewed Testable Tentative Simple Consistent • Every time we observe the phenomenon, it must happen the same way. • If I dropped a ball and it fell away from the Earth, science would need to revise the theory of gravity. • Science is internally consistent. One part of science may not contradict what another part maintains. Observable • Directly through our 5 senses or indirectly through use of equipment, we must be able to observe the evidence for a scientific theory or law. • Equipment such as an electron microscope, a cloud chamber etc. Natural • Science does not use explanations that invoke the supernatural. • All evidence for science must be from the natural world and observable by our senses or equipment. God is not able to be understood or proven by science because God is supernatural. Predictive • A theory or law must make predictions about the natural world that can be tested. • If the tests yield the expected results, this provides evidence or support for the theory or law. Einstein’s theory of general relativity predicted that light would be bent as it passed a large body such as a star like light is bent when a spoon is in a glass of water. Observations made during an eclipse showed it was. Peer Reviewed • When a scientist does research, for that work to be accepted it must be published for other scientists to comment on and verify. Scientists announced that they had discovered “cold” fusion. When other scientists tried to verify their work, they did not achieve the same results. Their work was discredited. Testable • The predictions made by a scientific theory or law must be able to be tested by experimentation or observation. String theory does not make predictions that we can test given the current level of our technology. Therefore, while interesting it is not an accepted scientific explanation. Tentative • Scientific theories or laws are always subject to change or rejection. • Because they must be consistent, even one counterexample will cause examination of a theory or law. It was assumed that time was the same for all observers. Einstein showed that light speed is the same for all observers not time. This led to the revision of many of Newton’s Laws. Simple • If many explanations of a phenomenon exist, the simplest is the one chosen. Ptolemy was able to predict the location of the planets in the sky using a complex series of calculations. Kepler’s model of the elliptical orbits of the planets was much simpler and just as accurate. It replaced Ptolemy's. Think About • Think of something that you believe to be true that is not accepted by the scientific community. • Why do you think something such as anthropogenic climate change which has overwhelming scientific evidence is not accepted by many intelligent nonscientists?