M4 - Class 12 Notes (5 Dec 2024) PDF

ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE SCIENTIFIC REASONING M04: ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE UNPACKING NOTIONS OF GOOD SCIENCE What is science? What is good science? These two questions are related! Modern scientific method guiding principles, checks and balances, parameters, metrics...

ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE SCIENTIFIC REASONING M04: ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE UNPACKING NOTIONS OF GOOD SCIENCE What is science? What is good science? These two questions are related! Modern scientific method guiding principles, checks and balances, parameters, metrics Imagine – what might be “good science” to the ancient Greeks? What might it be “in the future”? ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE UNPACKING NOTIONS OF GOOD SCIENCE A few examples to inspire the conversation… ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE UNPACKING NOTIONS OF GOOD SCIENCE Origin of Geometry: Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt (2nd millennium BC) Addressing practical need in surveying, construction, astronomy, and various crafts Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=B1sN0o4RSfI http://www.mathematicsmagazine.com/Articles/AncientMathematicalTexts.php https://fourstringfarm.com/2012/05/11/the-invention-of-geometry/ ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE UNPACKING NOTIONS OF GOOD SCIENCE Origins of Astronomy The Nebra sky disk (northern Europe, ~1,600 BC); 30 cm Stonehenge, prehistoric monument in England, bronze disk depicting the Sun, a lunar crescent & stars c. 3100 BC to 1600 BC (Druid temple, burial (including the Pleiades star cluster) – oldest concrete ground, or a large observatory?) depiction of astronomical phenomena known Sources: https://pages.uoregon.edu/jschombe/ast121/lectures/lec02.html ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE UNPACKING NOTIONS OF GOOD SCIENCE Origins of Astronomy Mayan city Chichen Itza, The Shadow Serpent of El Castillo, the step pyramid of Quetzalcoatl: Observatory to teach the Sun’s cycle; 4 grand staircases for the seasons, each contain 91 steps, with an The Ishango bone (DRC): bone tool, mathematical additional step at the top completes the device, tally stick, astronomical tool (lunar calendar)? cycle of 365 solar days, so it’s entirely Est. 9,000–6,500 BC possible that the structure was used to track the Sun cycle (8th–12th century AD) Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishango_bone ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE UNPACKING NOTIONS OF GOOD SCIENCE Origins of Chemistry “The first stage of human interaction with fire, perhaps as early as 1.5 million years ago in Africa, is likely to have been opportunistic. Fire may have simply been conserved by adding fuel, such as dung that is slow burning. A fire would have been useful not only for light and warmth at night, but to frighten off predatory animals, and the smoke would have been effective in keeping insects away. This ability to “stretch” fire was a novel feat, only developed by humans.” Source: https://time.com/5295907/discover-fire/ ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE UNPACKING NOTIONS OF GOOD SCIENCE Origins of Chemistry In Hellenistic Egypt (305 BC–30 BC), the refining of metals was known as chemia Muslim scholars translated many Greek texts, including ones on chemia, which they called al-kimia How matter changed, how to purify substances, how to colour metals, all came under al-kimia. Al-kimia contained elements of chemistry, metallurgy, philosophy, astrology, astronomy, mysticism, and medicine A side benefit: practical knowledge such as distillation and crystallization Muslim scholars built on earlier Greek understandings of matter – the four elements of air, earth, fire, and water – and its behaviour, including the transmutation of one metal into another Al-kimia arrived in Europe in the 12th century, along with some knowledge of al-iksir (elixir, which became known as the Philosopher’s Stone) Source: https://en.unesco.org/courier/yanvar-mart-2011-g/chemistry-how-it-all-started ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE UNPACKING NOTIONS OF GOOD SCIENCE What can be said about the origins of science and the characteristics of the scientific pursuits prior to the scientific revolution? ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE UNPACKING NOTIONS OF GOOD SCIENCE Back to modern-day science… ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE PARSIMONY Parsimony: "The principle that the most acceptable explanation of an occurrence, phenomenon, or event is the simplest, involving the fewest entities, assumptions, or changes.” “it is futile to do with more what can be done with fewer” https://www.oxfordreference.com ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE PARSIMONY Occam’s Razor (Latin: novacula Occami): methodological principle) or the Principle of Parsimony: "entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity” Searching for explanations constructed with the smallest possible set of elements Aristotle: ”We may assume the superiority ceteris paribus [other things being equal] of the demonstration which derives from fewer postulates or hypotheses." Ptolemy (c. AD 90 – c. 168): "We consider it a good William of Ockham (1285 – 1347) principle to explain the phenomena by the simplest English scholastic philosopher hypothesis possible.” and Catholic theologian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam's_razor ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE PARSIMONY Occam’s Razor (Latin: novacula Occami): methodological principle) or the Principle of Parsimony: Isaac Newton: “We are to admit no more causes of natural things than such as are both true and sufficient to explain their appearances.” Albert Einstein: “It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam's_razor ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE PARSIMONY Occam’s Razor (Latin: novacula Occami): Why is Occam’s razor called a razor? This mental model cuts away competing solutions, leaving the simplest—and supposedly most likely—explanation in place. By slicing and leaving aside more complex theories, it metaphorically acts as a razor. Other things being equal, simpler explanations are generally better than more complex ones. The simplest explanation is usually the correct one. https://nesslabs.com/occams-razor#:~:text=Occam%27s%20razor%20may%20be%20useful,has%20been%20criticised%20by%20researchers ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE PARSIMONY Occam’s Razor (Latin: novacula Occami): “Shaving off unlikely solutions” https://nesslabs.com/occams-razor#:~:text=Occam%27s%20razor%20may%20be%20useful,has%20been%20criticised%20by%20researchers ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE PARSIMONY Advantages: - simplifies complex problems -eliminate unlikely explanations Disadvantages: -oversimplification -can overlook important details https://nesslabs.com/occams-razor#:~:text=Occam%27s%20razor%20may%20be%20useful,has%20been%20criticised%20by%20researchers ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE PARSIMONY Advantages: - simplifies complex problems -eliminate unlikely explanations Disadvantages: -oversimplification -can overlook important details https://nesslabs.com/occams-razor#:~:text=Occam%27s%20razor%20may%20be%20useful,has%20been%20criticised%20by%20researchers ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE PARSIMONY: EXAMPLES Bright Light: Lightning or UFO? When you see a bright light ash through your curtains, what do you think it is? These possibilities may come to mind: Likely - It was a ash of lightning. Less Likely - It was a UFO. https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/examples-occams-razor https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/09/share-your-images-of-alien-life-on-earth/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/lightning fl fl ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE PARSIMONY: EXAMPLES Failed Test: Study Harder or Conspiracy? You failed an important test and want to know why. Some explanations include: Likely - You didn't study hard enough. Less Likely - Your teacher sabotaged your grade. https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/examples-occams-razor https://www.jagarmanacha.in/top-10-ways-to-deal-with-exam-failure/ ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE PARSIMONY: EXAMPLES Modern doctors look for the fewest possible causes to explain their patient’s multiple symptoms, and give preference to the most likely causes. Aphorism: “common things are common.” Interns are instructed, “when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.” For example, a person displaying influenza- like symptoms during an epidemic would be considered more likely to be suffering from influenza than an alternative, rarer disease. https://fs.blog/occams-razor/ ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE WHEN PARSIMONY IS THE WRONG APPROACH Ernst Mach advocated a version of Occam's razor (Principle of Economy): "Scientists must use the simplest means of arriving at their results and exclude everything not perceived by the senses". He famously declared, after an 1897 lecture by Ludwig Boltzmann at the Ernst Mach Imperial Academy of Science in Vienna, "I (1838 – 1916) don't believe that atoms exist!" Austrian physicist and philosopher https://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/occam.html ENSURING GOOD SCIENCE WHEN PARSIMONY IS THE WRONG APPROACH From 1908 to 1911, Max Planck criticised Mach's reluctance to acknowledge the reality of atoms as incompatible with physics. Mach and his followers claimed that molecules are metaphysical because they were too small to detect directly, despite the success the molecular theory had in explaining chemical reactions & thermodynamics. Einstein published a paper on brownian motion Ernst Mach (1838 – 1916) that confirmed the reality of molecules and thus Austrian physicist dealt a blow to Mach’s view and philosopher https://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/occam.html