Post your thoughts on the article on the definition of science. Be sure to respond to each of the questions.
7 Comments
Gabriella Freeman
1/30/2013 10:33:47 am
I believe it took a year to settle on this definition of science because science is an extremely broad and vast subject. Science has many separate areas such as, biology, physics and chemistry. The hundreds of years dedicated to finding evidence and proof that particles and molecules and gravity exist and affect out day-to-day lives have changed the way we look at the world and have completely increased our intelligence so much. Science can be defined by several different points of views and from thousands of different angles, as it is completely vast and unique, however it always comes down to one thing; evidence. The article implies that science is a way of knowing, as it states, “Science is the pursuit of knowing (…) following a systematic methodology based on evidence”, suggesting that there are other ways of pursuing knowledge that don’t require a systematic methodology based on evidence. Language is essential in science because science is the process of finding evidence and facts to prove occurrences in nature and our bodies that could save us from disease or justify natural disasters and whatnot. Hence, language is needed to communicate – to show and explain appropriate proof and what such evidence means to the world.
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Mr. Smith
2/25/2013 09:44:52 pm
I agree.
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Mari Teixeira
2/15/2013 06:31:57 am
It took an year to settle on the definition chosen because the term science is so common now-a-days that it is in fact really hard to point out what specifically is science. As it was stated in the article that definition should be precise enough to be able to limit what science is but also broad enough to grasp all aspects of science. The definition of the term was not simply defining a word, but a term with a great impact on the world today and on various things that is being studied. The definition also had the purpose to maintain clear in a world with so many researches and creations what is in fact to the eyes of scientists 'science'. The article implies that science is a way of knowing because it leads the way what we are learning. It is not something you learn about, but something one uses to gather more knowledge about any subject at hand. Although it may be argued both ways, I agree that science is the vehicle that many people use to be able to learn new things from and not solely a subject that must be learned upon. Science is the way to learn new things. And lastly it is very important to point out that language is a very important tool in science because the results and knowledge learned from it must be accurately expressed to be able to transmit to all, exactly what has been learned. Science leads humanity to so many answers that it is essential to know the proper use of language to express what is being learned in a way to avoid any possibility of a misunderstanding or different interpretation of the topic and the results made with a certain experiment.
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Athavan Balendran
2/17/2013 09:35:41 am
1) Why do you think it took a year to settle on this definition? 2) Does the article imply that science is a way of knowing, or an area of knowing? 3) Why is language so important in science?
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Anna Pearson
2/17/2013 10:34:33 am
I believe it took a year to create a definition for “science” due to the extent and range of the word. Science covers so many different ideas and topics that a definition had to be created that wouldn’t exclude anything. Also, this is one of the first “official definitions” of science according to the article so there was a lot of pressure riding on the Science Council. Also, it is popularly said that things get better with time, so a lot of time was taken on this definition to ensure that the Science Council could check and double check everything and make the definition better. This article implies that science is a way of knowing. The definition states that science is a “pursuit of knowledge” and is a method in which people can gain information. However, some of the critics of the definition state that the definition doesn’t include the use of the word science as an area of knowledge or a category in which to define existing knowledge. Language is important in science because much of science is about defining and classifying the world around us. Creating definitions and creating new concepts are important aspects of science and language is used to explain the definitions and creations. Also, a method of investigation is commonly used in science to find answers about the world around us. Language is used in the explanation of the process of investigation and it is important that the language be clear to understand how the investigation was done.
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Sarah Godoy
3/31/2013 05:47:12 am
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Thiago Gatto
4/16/2013 03:09:40 am
1) I believe that it took a year for them to settle on this definition because they needed to take into consideration all areas in society where it was possible to have the application of science and create a concept that would englobe all the areas and ways through which science can be used and explored.
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