Exploration and Discovery: Where Ideas Come From
-ideas may be inspired by scientific attitudes, practical problems, and new technology
Scientific Attitudes
Curiosity, Skepticism, Open-mindedness, and creativity help scientists generate new ideas
Practical Problems
Ideas for scientific investigations often come form practical problems
The Role of Technology
-technology, science, and society are closely linked
-technologies enables scientists in other fields to ask new questions or to gather data in new ways
-this capability allows researchers to pose and test new hypotheses
Communicating Results: Reviewing and Sharing Ideas
-Data collection and analysis can be a long process
-Researchers are expected to communicate and share their ideas to modern science
Peer Review
-Scientists share ideas by publishing peer-reviewed articles in
-scientific journals allows researchers to share ideas and to test and evaluate each other's work
-Reviewers read the journals looking for oversights, unfair influences, fraud, or mistakes in
Sharing Knowledge and New Ideas
-new ideas and questions can often be formed after the peer reviewing process
Scientific Theories
-Theories are often used to combine a multitude of hypotheses
-In science, the word theory applies to a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations and hypotheses and that enables scientists to make accurate predictions about new si
Science and Society
-many diseases in society contribute to science
-using science involves understanding its context in society and its limitations
Science, Ethics, and Morality
-pure science does not include ethical or moral viewpoints
-science can tell us how technology and scientific knowledge can be applied but not whether it should be applied in particular ways
Avoiding Bias
-Bias - a particular preference of point of view that is personal, rather than scientific
-Ex. Personal tastes, preferences, and societal standards of beauty
-Science aims to be objective and free of bias
Understanding and Using Science
-Science is not necessarily proven facts and ideas and should be attempted to understand ideas rather than just accept and believe the ideas
-Humans can use science to predict the consequences of our actions in the future