Remember that science is a philosophy of extracting truth from the world around you by observation and experiment. We discussed it previously; now we are going to examine the most basic way that people apply these principles to nature.

The things we observe

Sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch: the five traditional senses that allow humans to gather information, consolidate it into useful concepts, predict phenomena, and develop practical technologies.

As a child, the interpolation of new ideas begins with these basic senses. Sight begins with granular abstract shapes that over time becomes more defined until the abstraction becomes concrete. Touch covers a wide range of sensations; it begins with temperature, texture, and eventually a weight guessing skill. Sound recognition develops as a way for the child to recognize its mother, distinguish between known and unknown people, differentiate emotions, and develop communication skills. Smell allows babies to find their mothers, settle into an environment that reminds them of their own or their mother’s scent; eventually as it develops, smell allows for the discrimination of positive and negative aromas. Picture a baby spitting out asparagus, cringing at a lemon, contentedly chewing on a savory bit of meat, or happily devouring a sweet fruit— these scenarios explain taste rather well; the capacity to explore the world through taste allows for in many general instances the ability to distinguish between good, nutritious food, and potentially harmful foods.

Each sense provides an enormous amount of distinct information; however, it may be stated that it is difficult to ascertain whether something is accurate if the source of information is singular. If multiple sources of data converge on a similar answer, then it is safer to assume that the senses have consolidated knowledge with a reasonable degree of accuracy.

Everybody loves Food!

For example (you may see me use e.g. this is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase “exempli gratia” which means “for example”): food! Cuisine is a multi-sensory experience that all people everywhere have developed. I say this because everyone has preferences for different kinds of food; these include the appearance, taste, smell, and texture— sound is sometimes used for determination of ripeness of fruit. Think about your favorite food, the way it looks, the different layers of flavor, the scents that emanate, and the feeling as you bite into it. If all of these preferences are met adequately: your senses have pointed to a phenomenal meal that is pleasant. If one of the parameters is not met properly then all of the sudden you realize that something is wrong, depending on what is incorrect the enjoyment of the food may be drastically reduced or even fully ruined.

I have just described a form of data acquisition that nearly everyone can partake in. This is observation at its most basic. You possess a meal, you observe its qualities, and determine whether it passes your expectations by way of your senses.

Next time we will develop look at the basic physical tools, then develop some fundamental concepts used to perform experiments.

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you all again.