1. What is Science ?
Science has become synonymous with reliability, validity and certainty
It is an activity characterized by three features :
It is a search for understanding some aspect of reality
It achieves understanding by means of statements of general laws or principles derived from sensory observation and inductive reasoning
The laws or principles can be tested experimentally

2. A Brief History of Science
Key Developments in the Scientific Revolution
Copernicus (b1473 AD)-Heliocentric Universe
Galileo (b1564 AD)-Work with falling bodies
Newton (b1642)-Universal Laws of Gravitation
Mendel (b1822)-Laws of Heredity
Darwin (b1809)-Theory of Evolution

3. Key Thinkers in the Formulation of the Scientific Method

4. Francis Bacon (b1561AD) Pioneer in SM
Don’t accept what the Greeks said
Investigate using observation and experimentation

5. John Stuart Mill (b1806AD) Established three rules to guide SM :
The accumulation of particular observations
Generalization from particular observations
Repeated confirmation

6. William Whewell (b1794CE) Introduced the Hypothesis Method
Scientist makes an educated guess (H) and then tests it against sensory observations derived from experimentation
“reason” used in formulating H (reflects Kant)

7. Karl Popper (b1902) Distinguished between science and pseudoscience
A scientific hypothesis must be capable of being falsified through empirical observation (eg Suzuki vs Rushton)
Science tries to disprove proposed theories
Scientific knowledge is never certain, only probable and open to revisions based on new evidence

8. Thomas Khun (b1922 C.E.)
Wrote “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”
Claimed that scientists were influenced by the communities they operated out of…rationality is historically conditioned by social, political and economic factors (eg. Space Race, Nazi Science)…science is not performed in a vacuum
Introduced the notion of the “paradigm”… a worldview or mindmap for looking at the world

9. Thomas Kuhn continued…
-Scientists often cling to theories even when the data doesn't support them
Science doesn’t develop gradually as one might expect… often quantum leaps based on revolutionary ideas (usually by the young) (eg Einstein, Newton)

10. Kuhn continued….. In Kuhn’s view a good scientific theory has 5 traits
Accurate the consequences of the theory support sensory data
Consistent – corresponds with data and other prevailing theories on related topics
Broad Scope – should extent far beyond what it was originally designed to explain
Simple – brings order to confusion
Fruitful – discloses new information about relationships

11. Science & Truth Key question:Does Science give us truth ?
Three views on this which parallel the theories of truth
Case Studies : The Standard Theory of Matter & Copernicus’ Model of the Solar System

12. The Conceptual Relativist View
Related to the Coherence Theory of Truth and the work of Thomas Kuhn
A true scientific theory coheres with the conceptual framework accepted by a community of scientists
Scientists are influenced by the communities and “paradigms” they operate out of (e.g. the Space Race)
Our theories about reality influence what we think we are seeing when we observe reality ….we cannot independently know the real world

13. The Instrumentalist View
Related to the Pragmatic Theory of Truth
Scientific Theories are true if they enable us to accurately predict what will happen ...they work !
No one actually believed that Copernicus’ theory was an accurate description of the solar system but it explained the motion of the celestial spheres
The scientist “invents” the scientific truth

14. The Realist View Related to the Correspondence Theory of Truth
Scientific theories are true or false in so far as they describe what really exists
The goal of science is to explain the world as it really is
The scientist “discovers” the scientific truth