A Description of Natural Science

Steve Badger, PhDProfessor of Chemistry

Evangel University

www.evangel.edu/Personal/badgers/Web/

Science?

• This description of science and the scientific method is limited to “the natural sciences,” aka, the hard sciences

• E.g., physics, chemistry, biology, etc.

• Not the “social sciences”

How can we define science?

• Look the word up in a dictionary.• “Science” is what is found in a

science textbook.• Observe a scientist; whatever

he/she does is science.• Take a survey of scientists, asking

them to define science.

Who defines “science”?

• Scientists?• Linguists?• Philosophers?• Judges and lawyers?• Man on the street?

One court’s definition

The essential characteristics of science:

1. It is guided by natural law2. It has to be explanatory by

reference to natural law3. It is testable against the

empirical world4. Its conclusions are tentative5. It is falsifiable

(Judge William Overton, Dec 1981, Little Rock, AR)

Dr. J.P. Moreland counters:• None of these is a necessary and

sufficient condition for “science” (Christianity and the Nature of Science, pp23-35)

• Moreland examines these one-by-one and cites an example of “science” that does not meet that criterion

• He then cites an example of “non-science” that does meet that criterion

Moreland concludes:

• “We have seen that a generally agreed on set of necessary and sufficient conditions for something to count as science has not been found” (p.42)

What follows is…

• A natural scientist’s attempt to describe a generalized “scientific method” (for the natural sciences)

• Most natural scientists would probably accept this schema—or one very much like it.

The Scientific Method

A Way of Knowing

Characteristics of The Scientific Method

EmpiricalObjective v. subjectiveExperimentalReproducible Independent verificationSelf-correcting

The Scientific Method: An Outline

1. On the basis of having observed everything related to the problem/question, state the problem to be solved/the question to be answered.

2. Find out what is already known about the problem/question. Typically this involves a literature search.

The Scientific Method: An Outline

3. Using what data are available, form a hypothesis, a tentative explanation that seems to fit everything known about the problem/question to this point.

4. Construct univariate, controlled experiments to try to test the hypothesis.

The Scientific Method: An Outline

5. The observed results of the experiment will provoke the researcher to...

A. Continue testing the hypothesis as it is... OR...

B. Modify the hypothesis and continue testing it... OR...

C. Discard the hypothesis and form a new one to be tested.

The Scientific Method: An Outline

In each case, the researcher using the SM cycles between #4 and #5...until...

6. At some point the body of evidence supporting the hypothesis may become so great that we re-label it theory.

7. Construct univariate, controlled experiments to try to test the theory.

The Scientific Method: An Outline

8. The observed results of the experiment will provoke the researcher to...

A. Continue testing the theory as it is... OR...

B. Modify the theory and continue testing it... OR...

C. Discard the theory and form a new theory to be tested.

The Scientific Method: An Outline

In each case, the researcher using the SM cycles between #7 and #8 ...until...

9. At some point the body of evidence supporting the theory may become so great that it is acknowledged to be universally true. At this point, we re-label it scientific law or principle.

What makes a discipline “science”?

It uses a form of the scientific method• Name some disciplines that are

“science”• Name some disciplines that are not

“science”• Name some disciplines that are part

“science” and part “non-science”

What makes a question or a statement “scientific”?

• A statement or question is scientific if it can be tested using the scientific method

Try these:1. “Matter is made up of particles so tiny

that they never will be discovered.”2. “Mars is composed of cottage cheese.”

Are “science” & “technology” the same?

Science discovers facts, laws, principles

Technology uses these discoveries to make something

Principle: “As a liquid evaporates, it absorbs heat.”

People applied this principle to make…?

Not everything that claims to be science is science.

Let’s consider some examples of

pseudoscience…

Can the method(s) of natural science answer all

questions, solve all problems? Or does it

have some limitations?

Is this method the only way of gaining

knowledge? Always the best way?