Science is... at the Birmingham Museum of Science and Industry

1995 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine Baldock
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Scientific Theories ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Copernican Revolution ◽  
Hands On ◽  
The World ◽  
Images Of Science ◽  
Scientific Phenomena ◽  
Realistic Images

Science interpretation in museums has, until now, largely focused on the products of science—the technological artefacts of our scientific past and the scientific phenomena presented in hands-on galleries. Little, if anything, is said about the process of science—what it is, how it's done, who does it, and why. For this reason, the Birmingham Museum of Science and Industry is planning a new gallery based on science itself. Science is... will interpret science from a cultural perspective by looking at how culture affects science, and how changes in scientific thought have changed our own views of ourselves and the world around us. The objectives of the exhibition are: to raise awareness that science is a key part of our culture; to increase understanding of the method, history and philosophy of science and the scientific community; and to promote realistic images of science and scientists. Using the example of the Copernican Revolution, part of the gallery will focus on changing ideas in science, how change is affected by culture, and the consequences of accepting new scientific theories.

1. The methods and fruits of science

2021 ◽  
pp. 7-22
Author(s):  
David Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Realism ◽  
Scientific Method ◽  
Scientific Theories ◽  
Real Science ◽  
The World ◽  
Key Topics ◽  
Theory Test

This chapter briefly discusses central key topics in the philosophy of science that the remainder of the book draws upon. It begins by considering the scientific method. ‘Induction’—the idea that we construct scientific theories just by generalizing from observations—is a very poor match to real science. ‘Falsification’—Popper’s idea that we create a theory, test against observation, and discard it if it fails the test—is much more realistic, but still too simple: data only falsifies data given auxiliary assumptions that can themselves be doubted. The issues are illustrated through an example from modern astrophysics: dark matter. The chapter then explores how we can resolve issues of underdetermination, where two theories give the same predictions. Finally, it introduces ‘scientific realism’, the view that our best theories tell us things about the world that go beyond what is directly observable.

scholarly journals Is Science Really What Naturalism Says it is?

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Federico Laudisa
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Representation ◽  
Scientific Theories ◽  
Scientific Naturalism ◽  
The World

Abstract In spite of the relevance of a scientific representation of the world for naturalism, it is surprising that philosophy of science is less involved in the debate on naturalism than expected. Had the viewpoint of philosophy of science been duly considered, naturalism could not have overlooked the established lesson, according to which there is no well-defined recipe for what science must or must not be. In the present paper I address some implications of this lesson for (some forms of) naturalism, arguing that a radically naturalistic outlook fails to pay sufficient attention to some of the main lessons that philosophy of science has taught us concerning the nature of scientific theories. One of these lessons is that real scientific theories are far more normative than ordinary scientific naturalism is ready to accept, a circumstance that at a minimum is bound to force most naturalization strategies to re-define their significance.

scholarly journals Science as an interdisciplinary instrument for learning in high school - for a freirean epistemology (a curricular analysis of the high school classes of the College of Imaculada Conceição) / A ciência enquanto instrumento interdisciplinar para a aprendizagem no ensino médio – por uma epistemologia freireana (uma análise curricular das turmas do ensino médio do Colégio da Imaculada Conceição)

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 119626-119638
Author(s):  
Mauro Azevêdo ◽  
Diogenes José Gusmão Coutinho
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
World Society ◽  
Production Of Knowledge ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Right ◽  
Systematic Practice

Science (from Latin  scientia,  "knowledge") or systematic practice. It is a product derived from systematized searches, so a method is required. For Lakatos (2011), it is the systematization of knowledge, a grouping of logically related prepositions on the behavior of certain phenomena that one intends to study. Interdisciplinarity serves asa link between the curricular components of a school institution, so it is a model with a new division ofknowledge,  allows interaction, communication between disciplines seeking to integrate knowledge in a harmonious and meaningful way. Therefore, with this fusion of curricular knowledge, an important, scientific community is formed that provides high school with a quality in the learning process and, finally, the production of knowledge. By epistemology (it is the right knowledge, science. Logos:  speech, study. It's the philosophy of science.) freirean, it is critical, of interactionist basis, in which knowledge results from constructions of the subject with interaction with the world, society or culture. It is in this epistemology that dialogicity occurs, there is a process of constant construction in which the epistemic subject teaches and learns, learns and teaches. It is in high school, this school stage in which adolescents study, the presence of science permeating, instrumentalizing and boosting knowledge in classes and causing learning within the curriculum.

Reduction and Emergence

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal Ludwig
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Explanatory Gap ◽  
Scientific Theories ◽  
Ontological Pluralism ◽  
Psychological Phenomena ◽  
Special Sciences ◽  
The World ◽  
The Explanatory Gap

How are our scientific theories related to each other? Do they draw, together, a unified picture of the world, or should we infer from their disunity that reality is ontologically plural in some way? This chapter addresses the question of whether ontological pluralism is a defendable metaphysical thesis and whether philosophy of science has anything to say about it. It examines whether psychological phenomena possess an irreducible nature of their own that would be distinct from the nature of the phenomena studied by neuroscience. If, on the contrary, the explanatory gap between physics and special sciences is to be filled, the question is raised as to how it has to be done. Is conceptual analysis enough? Or should the explanatory gap be simply dismissed as being badly formulated? The chapter proposes a discussion of the current reductionist strategies.

scholarly journals Sanctioning Models: The Epistemology of Simulation

1999 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Winsberg
Keyword(s):  
Computer Simulation ◽  
Mathematical Models ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Computer Simulations ◽  
Constitutive Equations ◽  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Scientific Theories ◽  
Physical Systems ◽  
Complex Chain ◽  
The World

The ArgumentIn its reconstruction of scientific practice, philosophy of science has traditionally placed scientific theories in a central role, and has reduced the problem of mediating between theories and the world to formal considerations. Many applications of scientific theories, however, involve complex mathematical models whose constitutive equations are analytically unsolvable. The study of these applications often consists in developing representations of the underlying physics on a computer, and using the techniques of computer simulation in order to learn about the behavior of these systems. In many instances, these computer simulations are not simple number-crunching techniques. They involve a complex chain of inferences that serve to transform theoretical structures into specific concrete knowledge of physical systems. In this paper I argue that this process of transformation has its own epistemology. I also argue that this kind of epistemology is unfamiliar to most philosophy of science, which has traditionally concerned itself with the justification of theories, not with their application. Finally, I urge that the nature of this epistemology suggests that the end results of some simulations do not bear a simple, straightforward relation to the theories from which they stem.

scholarly journals Towards a Practical Form of Epistemology: The Case of Green Chemistry

2013 ◽  
pp. 36-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre Llored
Keyword(s):  
Green Chemistry ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Philosophy Of Technology ◽  
The World

This paper explores how chemists are transforming their own current background in order to act upon the world without jeopardizing life. In this respect, I will envisage science as both a system of propositions and a set of engaged practices. The scrutiny of chemical innovations will allow me to query the concepts of paradigm and that of scientific community. In doing so, I will connect the philosophy of science with the philosophy of technology so as to think about our relation with the world.

Les “Théories de L’image” De Helmholtz et de Hertz et les Motifs de Carnap Dans L’aufbau

1998 ◽  
pp. 148-154
Author(s):  
Jean Leroux
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Scientific Theories ◽  
Semiotic System ◽  
Systematic Treatment ◽  
Hermann Von Helmholtz ◽  
General Semantics ◽  
The World ◽  
Heinrich Hertz

I propose to sketch and compare the "picture theories" of Hermann von Helmholtz and Heinrich Hertz. These semiotic conceptions of scientific knowledge are forerunners of the now prevailing semantic views of scientific theories in philosophy of science, and my intent is to bring out the respective main features that either proved to be influential or, as such, retained in contemporary formal approaches to the semantics of physical theories. For our purposes, "picture theories" can be characterized as conceptions that (a) take as a departure the fact that scientific theories are embodied in a system of signs and (b) involve a systematic treatment of the relation that obtains between the semiotic system and the world. Essentially, such a theory will have in its core an answer to the question: "What does it take for a picture to be a picture of something?" In concludion, I outline a filiation between Helmholtz, Hertz and Carnap pertaining to the question of monomorphism or categoricity in the general semantics of physical theories.

The International Action “Open Access Week — 2009”

2009 ◽  
pp. 97-98
Author(s):  
Yulia V. Samodova
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
International Scientific Community ◽  
International Action ◽  
The World

Information on the coming Open Access Week which will be held from 19 to 23 October 2009. Interest in the results of scientific researches all over the world has led to consolidation of forces of the international scientific community and to expand the now-annual event from a single day to seven days.

Awareness and perception of precautionary measures against Covid 19 exposure among dental practitioners- A questionnaire based study

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 550-557
Author(s):  
Harini P ◽  
Abilasha R
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Dental Clinic ◽  
Attitude And Practice ◽  
Dental Practitioners ◽  
Hands On ◽  
The World ◽  
Spss Software ◽  
Precautionary Measures ◽  
Knowledge And Attitude

The most unexpected pandemic global outbreak is COVID 19 which is a newly discovered viral infection which originated in Wuhan, China and it caused the outbreak of pneumonia in the rest of the world. Dental practitioners are more susceptible to COVID 19 infection as their work is related to the aerosol formation during various procedures through which the virus spreads. The aim of the study is to create awareness about precautionary measures against COVID- 19 exposure among dental practitioners in Tamilnadu. A Survey based questionnaire was formulated with questions related to the various precautionary measures to be adopted by dental practitioners which would be effective to prevent Covid-19 exposure. A questionnaire with a total of 20 questions was circulated among dental practitioners and the responses were collected by google forms SPSS software statistical analysis was done. The overall awareness of dental practitioners against Covid-19 was above average. The dental practitioners were relatively well aware of the precautions to be adopted while treating the patients, but the implementation in practice is lacking due absence of hands-on experience in using various kinds of PPE. There is a gap between knowledge and attitude and practice among the participants of this survey. It is therefore essential to plan for organising training sessions and hands-on workshops for the use of PPE and public training of the general population regarding Covid-19 to improve the knowledge among the patients visiting the dental clinic as well.

Laws of Nature

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Laws Of Nature ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Scientific Theories ◽  
Law Of Nature ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Universe

The concept of a law of nature, while familiar, is deeply puzzling. Theorists such as Descartes think a divine being governs the universe according to the laws which follow from that being’s own nature. Newton detaches the concept from theology and is agnostic about the ontology underlying the laws of nature. Some later philosophers treat laws as summaries of events or tools for understanding and explanation, or identify the laws with principles and equations fundamental to scientific theories. In the first part of this volume, essays from leading historians of philosophy identify central questions: are laws independent of the things they govern, or do they emanate from the powers of bodies? Are the laws responsible for the patterns we see in nature, or should they be collapsed into those patterns? In the second part, contributors at the forefront of current debate evaluate the role of laws in contemporary Best System, perspectival, Kantian, and powers- or mechanisms-based approaches. These essays take up pressing questions about whether the laws of nature can be consistent with contingency, whether laws are based on the invariants of scientific theories, and how to deal with exceptions to laws. These twelve essays, published here for the first time, will be required reading for anyone interested in metaphysics, philosophy of science, and the histories of these disciplines.

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