Historic Perspective on Science

Allow me to tell you a story; long ago ancient man looked to the stars, the land, and the sea to explain the world around them. From these rudimentary observations it was clear to them that predictions could be made, and people could have their doubts and fears assuaged. Religions, mythologies, and mystery schools developed or were created for these people; these teachings were the first form of science attempting to explain the world around them. What are the celestial bodies, how do they move and affect us; why are there arcs of light and loud booms during storms; why does someone get ill? These are all questions (along with so many more) that ancient people tried to solve by observing the world and applying contextualized reason to the phenomenon.

Mythologies, religions, and mystery schools were all early formations of what we call today science. The word science come from the Latin root scientia which may be translated as knowledge, experience, intelligence. Ancient knowledge was more experiential and theologically based; all this means is that subjective experience played a very important role in the observation and understanding of the ancient

world.

Modern Science

Today science focuses on removing subjectivity and personal experience; focusing on empirical data, observations, reason, and models to explain natural phenomenon along with predicting future observations. Models are created to explain simply complex phenomena; mathematics are used to analyze, derive, and predict; science is used to explicate the natural laws, and consequences therein.

Applications

Your computer, cell phone, television, gaming console, and car are all examples of technology which have come from modern science. We as the human race can create these truly magnificent objects because we understand the underlying physical principals and material properties. The people who research and experiment are called scientists; the fields that these scientists study are vast, each with their own sub-disciplines.

Disciplines

Probably the most widely known fields are Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Psychology. These four do not encapsulate the many disciplines of science. In fact one are that many people don’t consider is Mathematics; however, math has contributed more to the advancement of each field than almost any other. Another field many do not necessarily consider is that of Engineering.

What!

What is science? That questions leaves many people scratching their heads seeking an answer.

Science may be defined simply as “observing the world, and making predictions”. This simple definition, however, is not sufficient because erroneous predictions may be accepted based on few inconsistent observations. Let us then expand the definition to the following; “repeated consistent observations that may be verified, then making predictions”.

Experiments are designed using at the fundamental level simple logic. At more advanced levels, the logic become more complex, mathematics begins to play larger roles, instrumentation becomes vital, and the theory needed hyperspecializes.

This definition leads us to the development of what is known as the scientific method: i.e., observe, hypothesize, experiment, reject or refine hypothesis, test some more.

These basic ideas lead directly into a field known as the Philosophy of Science.

Who!

Now that we have briefly defined what science is, let us determine who is able to perform science.

The short answer: EVERYONE!

Science is not an exclusive club of people who possess doctorates, and are the best of the best, the brightest of the age.

No! Science is a systematic system of learning the natural world. Babies as they explore their world use a very rudimentary form of the scientific method to grow more confident in their dynamic surroundings. Children as they play and explore the world incorporate subconsciously these ideas. Every single human that adapts to a changing system uses a form of science to examine uncertain situations.

The people in lab coats, who use expensive equipment and perform esoteric calculations work under an explicit, and generally rigorous form of science. Any one person may learn the theory, and techniques of science.

If you want to learn science all you have to do is, TRY!

When, Where, Why!

The previous questions could be answered more independently; however, these three are more delicately intertwined. It may be said that science is performed all the time, everywhere, and for nearly every purpose one may think of.

For example: have you every tried to improve a skill, let’s say drawing. As a child you probably drew some form of stick figure that was oddly proportioned. The two aspects of practical science in play here are observation and technique; first you observed the general form of a human and using a drawing technique you abstracted the form of man onto a blank canvas. These initial sketches are not necessarily good. The innate, unconscious usage of the rudimentary scientific method lets you— the child— examine the abstract stick drawing, make further observations, add more detail to the stick drawing. Now it has hands, and hair! This perpetual process of observation, and gradual technique improvement is the purest, most basic form of science.

Theory!

The third aspect of science that I have yet to express in detail is theory. A theory is a set of evidence which allows for predictions to be made. Science does not prove; science approaches truth. As people grow scientifically, they must rely on outside information not generated by personal observation. The external source is repeatedly verified data, and historic scientific facts. Students may have an intuitive understanding of some science; but, they require teachers, and professors to expose them to ideas old, and new that they may have never encountered before such that the burgeoning scientists begins to understand the explicit reason behind their curious eyes.

Conclusion

Science is a beautifully complicated, yet simple idea. Science is two things: a way of thinking, and a collected body of organized information. Everyone may perform science— and you do, consciously or not. At all times, everywhere, for nearly every purpose: science is performed.

If you have made it this far I thank you immensely for reading. I hope that this peek into the world of science has made you interested in learning more.

Thank you, and have a wonderful day!