Science & The Scientific Process

1. Descriptive and Experimental Science

Science is a process that humans use to understand their surroundings, and how they work, through testable experiments. It is a way of knowing how the natural world and our universe works. Science tries to do this by testing and explaining physical laws about the way the universe works.

In science, research is an important part of the process. And within it, there are two main categories: descriptive and experimental.

Both types of research are necessary and important forms of science. Each has its weakness. But they can often be complementary to each other. They help us understand the world around us and what factors influence how the world functions.

2. The Scientific Method

The scientific method is the foundation of science today, and it is made up of an iterative process of the following steps:

Then the process begins again, by themselves or other scientists, by starting at observation to create a reliable and thorough body of research on that particular phenomenon in an iterative process.

Let's break this down with a real world example:

IN CONTEXT

Observation: I watched a YouTube video about astronauts in space drinking water without gravity.

Question: Then I thought to myself, would two objects of different weight on Earth fall at the same speed if they were dropped from the same height?

Research: Then I did some Google searching and discovered that there is a difference between mass and weight. Every bit of matter in space has a mass to it. But our weight is determined by the gravitational relationship between my mass and the Earth's, as well as our distance from each other.

Hypothesis: I predicted that the one with more weight would fall faster.

Testing: I went to the corner ice-cream shop and bought a double-scoop cone of ice-cream. I walked outside and pulled out a paper clip. I held the ice-cream cone and the paper clip out in front of me at the same height and dropped them.

Analysis: I watched them both hit the ground at the same time.

Conclusion: I discovered that my hypothesis was wrong. Even though the ice-cream cone had more weight than my paper clip, they both hit at the same time. I concluded that I needed to do more research on gravity.

I watched a few informational YouTube videos and read a few informational papers, and I discovered that while gravitational force is determined by mass and distance, acceleration due to gravity is determined by aerodynamics and resistance. The fact that I dropped those two objects at such a low height meant that the differences in their aerodynamics were negligible. And so their acceleration due to gravity was virtually the same to the naked eye.

This last bit begins the process again, as I might next try to drop two objects from an airplane to see if their aerodynamics affect which one reaches the ground first.

3. Physical Laws and Scientific Theories

There is a difference between scientific theory and physical laws.

Physical laws are things that apply universally in nature. They are fixed and do not change.

EXAMPLE

Consider Sir Isaac Newton's law of gravity, which states that any two bodies in the universe attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. This is something that, at least at this point in history, is immutable and constant in nature.

Scientific theory is a collection of observations that fit together in a broader picture. Scientific theories are usually thoroughly tested, but cannot be proven, only supported. However, they can be disproven. They also can be changed and revised as new information is gathered. Scientific theory is different from the common use of the word theory in everyday language, because scientific theory is backed up by significant research.

EXAMPLE

Consider the ancient scientist Ptolemy's theory that the earth was at the center of our solar system. This knowledge was used to predict the movement of celestial bodies. Repeated observation of celestial objects and calculations from retrograde motion supported this theory for 1,500 years, until it was eventually disproved in Copernicus's time, and replaced by the theory that the sun is at the center of our solar system. The Copernican theory that replaced it was simpler, more accurate, and required less assumptions about the way the universe worked than Ptolemy's theory.

term to know

Theory

A collection of observations that fit together into a broader picture.

4. Scientific Objectivity

In science, the goal of objectivity is paramount, meaning that preventing personal bias, opinions, and interests from influencing thinking, interpretation, and/or reported findings is important.

EXAMPLE

Think about two people who are talking about nuclear energy might arrive at the same conclusion through subjective and objective thinking. Person One might say, "I have a cousin who works in a nuclear power plant. And she gets sick all the time. Plus, I hate how ugly the plant is when I drive by. Nuclear power is dangerous." This is subjective thinking.

Person Two might say, "According to research from a credible source, I discovered that people who work in nuclear facilities or manage the radioactive waste they produce are significantly more at risk to certain forms of cancer. Nuclear energy, if not properly managed, can prove more dangerous to human health than we think." This is objective thinking.