Science, Faith and Scientific Method

• Faith relies on belief without proof, whereas science depends on evidence.
• Religion can impede scientific advancement, according to Richard Dawkins, making coexistence difficult.
• John Lennox contends that Christianity was a driving force behind scientific progress.
• The central conflict is between naturalism and theism
• Naturalism posits that everything can be explained through natural causes.
• Theism posits the belief relating to God

Scientific Method

• Formulated by Francis Bacon
• Involves empirical observation and inductive reasoning
• Used to gain knowledge through experiments.
• Karl Popper introduced falsifiability
• Hypotheses are tested, and failed ones are rejected, to advance scientific knowledge.

Scientific Advancement

• According to Thomas Kuhn, science advances through revolutions, where dominant theories replace older ones rather than in a linear and constant way.
• Aristotle promoted deductive reasoning
• General principles lead to logical conclusions.
• Teleology states that everything in nature possesses a purpose or final cause.
• Aristotle proposed that all matter consists of earth, water, air, fire, and aether.
• Ptolemy's geocentric model, which places Earth at the center of the universe, was accepted for 1000 years.
• The moon, sun, and planets were thought to orbit Earth.
• Democritus proposed that the world consists of atoms
• His atomic theory lacked experimental proof but influenced the modern understanding of atoms.
• Copernicus introduced the heliocentric model
• Incorrectly assumed circular orbits but correctly placed the sun at the center of the universe.
• Tycho Brahe created a hybrid model: Earth is stationary, but the Sun orbits it.

Discoveries

• Galileo Galilei improved the telescope
• Arrested for heresy for advocating heliocentrism.
• Johannes Kepler determined that planets orbit the sun in ellipses, not circles.
• His laws of planetary motion supported the heliocentric model.

Laws of Motion

• Isaac Newton supported the three laws of motion and universal gravitation.
  • Law of Inertia
  • Law of Acceleration
  • Action-Reaction Law
• John Dalton proposed that all matter is composed of indivisible atoms.
• Dmitri Mendeleev created the periodic table
• Organizing elements by atomic mass
• Predicting undiscovered elements.
• J.J. Thomson discovered the electron in 1897 using a cathode ray tube
• This discovery led to the plum pudding model of the atom.
• Ernest Rutherford discovered the nucleus through the gold foil experiment
• Proving atoms have a small, dense, positively charged center.
• Niels Bohr proposed that electrons orbit the nucleus in fixed energy levels.
• Albert Einstein proposed the theory of relativity
• Including E=mc², that describes the relationship between energy and mass.
• Lise Meitner discovered nuclear fission
• Helped explain how splitting atomic nuclei releases energy
• Laying the groundwork for nuclear power and atomic bombs.
• Gerhard Domagk discovered Prontosil, the first commercially available antibiotic
• Led to sulfa drugs that revolutionized bacterial infection treatment.
• Fritz Haber developed the Haber-Bosch process for large-scale ammonia production

Key Terms and Concepts

• Powers of 10 express large or small numbers in scientific notation using multiplication of 10.
• Antibiotics kill or inhibit bacterial growth by targeting bacterial structures or functions.
• Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming.
• God of the Gaps attributes unexplained phenomena to divine intervention, which critics argue hinders scientific exploration.
• Two Books of Revelation suggests God reveals truth through nature (science) and scripture, with conflicts arising from misinterpretation.
• Science is empirical, objective, and rational
• Relying on observation, experimentation, and logical reasoning.
• Key steps in the scientific method involve observation, hypothesis, experimentation, and conclusion.
• Science is limited to investigating the natural world and cannot address moral, aesthetic, or supernatural questions.
• Traditional science seeks universal truths through systematic observation and experimentation, assuming an orderly universe.
• Empirical evidence, objectivity, and rationality are key to science
• Ensuring valid conclusions through unbiased observation and logical reasoning.

Theories

• A scientific theory must be testable and falsifiable, according to Popper’s Falsification
• Science evolves through shifts in dominant theories (paradigms), with revolutions occurring when new evidence challenges existing beliefs, according to Kuhn’s Paradigms and Scientific Revolutions.
• Scientific theories are shaped by fundamental principles and empirical data that evolve with new discoveries.
• Reductionism simplifies complex systems by studying simpler parts, though critics argue it oversimplifies.
• Determinism suggests all events follow causal laws
• Materialism states everything is physical
• Scientism claims science is the only path to knowledge.

Ideologies

• Christian theism believes in a divine creator
• Naturalism rejects the supernatural
• Postmodernism questions absolute truth.
• Methodological naturalism assumes natural causes for phenomena in science.
• Retrograde motion is the apparent backward motion of planets due to Earth's movement.
• An epicycle is a small circular orbit within a planet’s main orbit, used in the geocentric model to explain planetary motion.
• Heliocentric places the Sun at the center of the universe, while geocentric places Earth at the center.
• Aristotle's science included five elements, deduction, and teleology
• He focused on purpose and logical deduction, proposing earth, water, air, fire, and aether as fundamental elements.

Laws

• Newton’s Laws of Motion:
  • Objects remain in motion unless acted upon.
  • Force equals mass times acceleration.
  • Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
• Newton’s Law of Universal Gravity: Every mass attracts every other mass, depending on mass and distance.
• Deism believes in a non-intervening creator, viewing the universe as a predictable machine or clockwork universe.
• Average speed is total distance divided by time, while instantaneous speed is speed at a specific moment.
• A derivative measures how a function changes, with the power rule stating d/dx [xⁿ] = n*xⁿ⁻¹.
• Ancient civilizations developed unique numerical notations, with Indian numerals evolving into the modern decimal system.
• Algebra solves equations using symbols, and the imaginary unit (i) represents the square root of -1.
• Protons and neutrons are in the nucleus, while electrons orbit
• Protons are positive, neutrons are neutral, and electrons are negative.
• Rutherford’s experiment showed atoms have a dense nucleus, with most of an atom being empty space.
• The nucleus contains protons and neutrons, isotopes have different neutron counts, and ions are charged atoms, represented in notation like ²³Na⁺.
• Elements are pure substances organized by atomic number and properties in the periodic table.
• Nuclear fission, or splitting of atomic nuclei, releases energy, powering nuclear reactors and bombs.
• The Manhattan Project was a secret WWII project that developed nuclear weapons, leading to bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Bonding

• Ionic bonding transfers electrons
• Covalent bonding shares them
• Polar bonds have unequal sharing, while non-polar bonds share equally.
• Intermolecular forces act between molecules, and intramolecular forces hold atoms together within molecules.
• Essential molecules for life include H₂O, O₂, N₂, CO₂, NH₃, O₃, and CH₄.
• The Haber-Bosch Process synthesizes ammonia for fertilizer production on a large scale.
• Nitrogen fixation converts atmospheric nitrogen into usable forms through bacteria and industrial methods.
• The nitrogen cycle moves nitrogen through ecosystems via fixation, assimilation, nitrification, and denitrification.
• Eutrophication, algae blooms, and dead zones are caused by excess nutrients that lead to algal overgrowth, oxygen depletion, and aquatic life deaths.

Exploration of science and faith, highlighting their reliance on evidence versus belief. Discussion of the scientific method, including empirical observation, inductive reasoning, and falsifiability. Overview of scientific advancement through revolutions.