Nature of Science PDF

# The Nature of Science (NOS) ## Why Study About the Nature of Science? The nature of science and technology must be learned to develop scientific and technological literacy in the society. It also aims to increase your interest in learning science and technology and develop awareness of the impac...

# The Nature of Science (NOS) ## Why Study About the Nature of Science? The nature of science and technology must be learned to develop scientific and technological literacy in the society. It also aims to increase your interest in learning science and technology and develop awareness of the impacts of science and technology in life. Learning the nature of science helps us develop accurate views of what science and technology are, how they differ from other disciplines, and their advantages and disadvantages. ## The Three Domains of Science Scientists have identified three domains of science that are critical to the development of scientific literacy and appreciation: - Science as a Way of Knowing (Scientific Inquiry) - Science as a Way of Doing (Scientific Enterprise) - Science as a Way of Looking (Scientific World View) ## Science as a Way of Knowing (Scientific Inquiry) Science as a way of knowing leads to a body of knowledge that includes scientific facts, concepts, theories and laws presented in science textbooks. The following are the key concepts of Science as a Way of Knowing: 1. **Tentativeness** - All scientific knowledge is subject to change in the light of new evidence. 2. **Empirical Evidence** - Scientific knowledge relies heavily on empirical evidence. 3. **Logic and Imagination** - Although imagination may be used in coming up with hypotheses but scientific arguments must conform to the principles of logical reasoning. 4. **Explains and Predicts** - Scientists strive to make sense of observations by constructing explanations and predictions. 5. **Objectivity** - Scientists must base their claim on facts and not on their biases. 6. **Non-authoritarian** - No scientist is empowered to decide for other scientists what is true, for none are believed by other scientists to have special access to truth. ## Science as a Way of Doing (Scientific Enterprise) Science as a way of doing employs a wide variety of approaches to generate the scientific knowledge in the first domain, including observation, inference, experimentation and chance discovery. The following are the key concepts of Science as a Way of Doing: 1. **Social Activity** - Scientific works involve many individuals, communities, and nations that reflect different social values and viewpoints. 2. **Branches of Science** - Science is organized into branches or disciplines that differ with one another in many ways. 3. **Process Skills** - Scientists learn process skills like observing, inferring, measuring, classifying, predicting, hypothesizing, investigating, concluding, and communicating to be able to do science. 4. **Methods of Science** - There are many ways to do science. There is no single scientific method that all scientists follow. Scientific methods may seem to be always simple, linear, and consist of systematic steps to be followed but in reality scientists engage in many different investigations in many different sequences. These scientific investigations involve repeating the same steps many times to account for new information and ideas. ## Science as a Way of Looking (Scientific World View) Science as a way of looking seeks to describe the nature of scientific enterprise as an individual and social dimension and focuses on the scientists who are doing the scientific work and generating knowledge. The following are the key concepts of Science as a Way of Looking: 1. **Understandable World** - Science presumes that the universe is comprehensible through careful and systematic study of the human beings. 2. **Preliminary and Progressive** - The works of different scientists are subject to change in the spirit of tentativeness and presumes that their discoveries are preparation to something greater and fuller in the future. 3. **Scientific Attitudes** - Scientists must possess scientific attitudes that are helpful in doing their scientific work and in how they view their work. 4. **Durable Knowledge** - Science cannot absolutely prove anything because the problem of induction makes “proof” impossible, but scientific conclusions are still valuable and long lasting because of the way that knowledge eventually comes to be accepted in science. 5. **Benefits and Limitations** - It is undeniable that science has a lot of benefits in our lives. However, science also has limitations such as things that it cannot perform and provide solutions to. The benefits and limitations are tabulated below: | Benefits of Science | Limitations of Science | |---|---| | **Build Knowledge** - Science helps us build new knowledge that may lead to new applications.| **Moral Judgments** - Science can help us decide how the world is but it cannot make a decision whether something is good or bad, right or wrong.| | **Satisfy Curiosity** - Science gives explanations that satisfy the inquisitive minds of scientists. | **Aesthetic Judgments** - Science can explain how the eyes see things and how the ears hear sounds but it cannot decide whether the sight or the sound is beautiful or not. | | **Develop Technology** - Scientific discoveries may lead to the development of new technologies.| **Application of Scientific Knowledge** - Science helps us develop new knowledge but it doesn't help us decide on how to use the knowledge.| | **Address Social Issues** - New scientific knowledge may help introduce products or systems that can help those who are in need.| **Conclusions about the Supernatural** - Science deals with natural phenomena and it does not support or contradict supernatural entities.| | **Solve Problems** - Everyday problems are sometimes given solutions by science. | | | **Formulate Policy** - Because of new scientific knowledge about a phenomenon, the government can now make informed decisions. | |