Today, we reviewed the basic steps to the scientific method. This year, however, we took our understanding a little further by injecting some philosophy of science. We learned that for a theory to be considered "scientific", it must fulfill three important criteria. It must be falsifiable. It has to be possible to find a way to prove it wrong, even if it never is proven wrong. A theory also must be testable. It has to be shown to actually apply, over and again, in the manner in which it was proposed. Finally, the method or methods used to arrive at that theory must be able to be reproduced by others in the same manner so that they can arrive at the same result.
We also explored the "Socratic Method" a bit. The ideas of belief and truth were discussed and how they come together to produce what we call knowledge. We took this a step further and briefly discussed the fact that science is concerned typically concerned with exploring absolute truth rather than relativistic ideas, which, honestly, can't truly exist anyway. Whether by inductive or deductive reasoning, our goal should always be to try to understand how the natural world works in some definitive way.
Don't forget about the quiz over these notes next time. Also, your homework for chapter 1 (vocabulary and review questions) is due on September 8th, the same day as the chapter 1 quiz! Check the geocalendar!
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