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=Chapter 1- About Science =

About science
-We live in outer space. Not many people realize this, but we do. -We know what the earth looks like because of photos scientists have taken. -We can’t control earth's motion but we can understand it. -The study of nature's rules if what science is about.

The Basic Sciences: Physics
-Science is the present day equivalent of what used to be known as Natural Philosophy. -Natural philosophy is the study of unanswered questions about nature. -Physics is the most basic part of science. It relates to all other sciences including chemistry and biology. -Physics is about the nature of basic things such as energy, motion, forces, matter, sound, light, heat, and the composition of matter.

Mathematics-The language of science
-Science was transformed in the seventeenth century when it was learned that nature can be analyzed and described mathematically. -When the ideas of science are expressed in mathematical terms, they are unambiguous. -They don’t have double meanings that so often confuse the discussion of ideas expressed in the common language. -When the findings in nature are expressed mathematically, they are easier to verify or to disprove by experiment. -The methods of mathematics and experimentation led to the enormous success of science.

The Scientific Method


  -Galileo Galilei (Italian physicist) and Francis Bacon (English philosopher) are the principles founders of the scientific method. -Scientific Method: a method that is extremely effective in gaining, organizing, and applying new knowledge. -Steps in Scientific Method: 1. Recognize a problem 2. Make an educated guess-**A hypothesis**-ab0ut the answer. 3. Predict the consequences of the hypothesis. 4. Perform experiments to test predictions. 5. Formulate the simplest general rule that organizes the three main ingredients: hypothesis, prediction, and experimental outcome. -Other ways like the scientific method: trial and error, experimentation without guessing, or plain accidental discovery.

The Scientific Attitude
- A **fact** is a close agreement by competent observers who make a series of observations of the same phenomenon. - A **law** or **principle** is a hypothesis that is tested over and over again and not contradicted. -If a scientist finds contradicting evidence, the hypothesis, law or principle must be changed. Example- Aristotle claimed that an object twice as heavy will fall twice as fast. Many people believed this was true for at least 200 years. However, he was proved wrong and the hypothesis was changed. -A theory is the same thing as a hypothesis in everyday speech but in science, a **theory** is a synthesis of large body of information that encompasses well tested and verified hypotheses about certain aspects of the natural world. -Ex- physicists speak of atomic theory while biologists speak of cell theory. - A change in a hypothesis is actually a strength in science not a weakness.

Scientific Hypotheses Must Be Testable
-Before a hypothesis can be classified as scientific, it mus link to the general understanding of nature and conform to the cardinal rule. -A scientific hypothesis must be testable and even more important be proved wrong. -In order to see if a hypothesis is scientific, see if there are tests that can prove it wrong. -" No number of experiments can prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong."-Albert Einstein A hypothesis that has no test for its possible wrongness lies outside the domain of science.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Fact**-a close agreement by competent observers who make a series of observations of the same phenomenon.
 * Hypothesis**-an educated guess.
 * Law or Principle**-is a hypothesis that is tested over and over again and not contradicted.
 * Scientific Method**- A process that is extremely effective in gaining, organizing, and applying new knowledge.
 * Theory**-a synthesis of a large body of information that encompasses well tested and verified hypotheses about certain aspects of the natural world.

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