NATURAL SCIENCES

ToK

What are the areas of knowledge

What are natural sciences ?

What is it’s scope and applications?The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them.William Lawrence Bragg 

Natural science is

 any of the sciences (as physics, chemistry, or biology) that deal with matter, energy, and their interrelations and transformations or with objectively measurable phenomena.

Discovery by an accident

Penicillin-http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/the-real-story-behind-the-worlds-first-antibiotic/

http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/greatest-discoveries/videos/100-greatest-discoveries-the-discovery-of-penicillin/X- rays-UranusRayon

Knowledge acquired through emotion

Marie curie discovered Radium after years long research.She developed a method of radio therapy for medical treatment.After her husband’s death she continued the research to go on in the laboratory as if Pierre were still there. Had he not once said to her, “Whatever happens, even if one were to be like a body without a soul, one must work just the same”?

Scientific knowledge triggered from intuition

"The theory of relativity occurred to me by intuition, and music is the driving force behind this intuition. My parents had me study the violin from the time I was six. My new discovery is the result of musical perception" (Shinichi Suzuki, 1969. "Nurtured by Love. A New Approach to Education", p90).

Scientific knowledge from imagination

Imagination has brought mankind through the Dark Ages to its present state of civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity. Imagination has given us the steam engine, the telephone, the talking-machine and the automobile, for these things had to be dreamed of before they became realities. So I believe that dreams – day dreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain-machinery whizzing – are likely to lead to the betterment of the world. The imaginative child will become the imaginative man or woman most apt to create, to invent, and therefore to foster civilization.”  – L. Frank Baum

Historical development of sciences

Science has not developed linearly- adding one step above the other.

It developed through revising the facts and concepts- How the geo-centric explanation of solar system is replaced by helio-centric solar system,.

The Newtonian mechanics give way to quantum mechanics while explaining the microscopic world.

What are the implications of the following claim?

‘One aim of the physical sciences has been to give an exact picture of the material world. One achievement of physics in the twentieth century has been to prove that this aim is unattainable.’ (Jacob Bronowski)

Let’s watch this interesting video..

https://www.ted.com/talks/stuart_firestein_the_pursuit_of_ignorance?language=en

Knowledge question

Do people place the same kind of faith in science as they do in religion?

What is Science?

 According to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, the definition of science is "knowledge attained through study or practice," or "knowledge covering general truths of the operation of general laws, esp. as obtained and tested through scientific method [and] concerned with the physical world."

What is religion ?

According to Mariam Webster’s dictionary, religion is an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods.

Some thoughts on religion and science.