Science

Neil deGrasse Tyson -

American
astrophysicist and
science communicator

“For me, I am driven by

two main philosophies:
know more today about
the world than I knew
yesterday and lessen the
suffering of others. You'd
be surprised how far that
gets you.”
Science is more than a body
of knowledge: It’s a way
of thinking; a way of
skeptically interrogating
the universe. If we are
not able to ask skeptical
questions, to be skeptical
of those in authority,
then we’re up for grabs.
— Carl Sagan
(1934–1996)
Science Asks Three Basic Questions
• What's there?
– The geologist examines rocks in the Grand Canyon, the nuclear physicist bombarding atoms
and sees what happens, the tropical biologist describes a previously undiscovered spider in
Costa Rica, the paleontologist digging in promising strata looking for plant fossils, are all
seeking to find out, “What's there?”
• How does it work?
– A geologist comparing the effects of time on moon rocks to the effects of time on earth rocks,
the nuclear physicist observing the behavior of particles, the tropical biologist studies the
mating activities of the spider, and the paleontologist studying the reproductive structures of
the plant fossils are asking, 'How does it work?‘
• How did it come to be this way?
– Each of these scientists tries to reconstruct the histories of their objects of study. Whether
these objects are rocks, elementary particles, tropical organisms, or fossils, scientists are
asking, 'How did it come to be this way?‘

• Science restricts itself to explaining the natural world using

natural causes only

• Science constantly builds upon itself, using previous

knowledge to create new understanding
Science as a Process – The Scientific
Method
• The Scientific Method Observation
– Humans have the unique ability to critically
observe the world around them
– We often don't just accept what we see, we inquire
and interpret what we see
• Questions
– Science seeks to answer questions about the
natural world
– How and Why are two common types of questions
• Hypothesis
– One or more tentative, testable explanations for an
observed phenomenon.
– Most good hypothesis can be written in an "if-
then" context
– Most questions have several viable hypotheses
explaining it - which one is most supported?
– Hypotheses MUST be falsifiable – if you cannot
falsify your hypothesis, it is not valid
The Scientific Method Continued
• Experiments
– Experiments are performed to test the validity of your
hypotheses
– Experiments are designed to disprove your hypothesis
– Continual failure to disprove a hypothesis lends support to
a hypothesis (but not always if the experiment is flawed or
there is some other underlying principle which is not being
taken into account
• Conclusions
– Do the data support or refute the experiment?
– How can you modify your experiments to further test your
hypotheses?
– What new questions can be asked based upon your results?
• Other Support for Hypotheses
– Observation - data doesn't always come from experiments,
it can come from observation
– Look at the data obtained by archeologists and
paleontologists - it is mostly observational data
• Communicate Your Results
– Publish or Perish!
 Deductive & Inductive Reasoning
• Deductive reasoning works from
the more general to the more
specific. Sometimes this is
informally called a "top-down"
approach.
– General to specific
• Inductive reasoning works the
other way, moving from specific
observations to broader
generalizations and theories.
Informally, we sometimes call this
a "bottom up" approach
– Specific to general
 Science as a Body of Knowledge
• Collection of insights and observations about the natural world
– These insights and observations are known as theories
– Theories are NOT hunches, they are NOT throw-away ideas, they are
general sets of principles greatly supported by evidence that explain
some aspect of nature
– You really cannot choose to not believe in a theory because it
disagrees with a preconceived notion you have about the world
– “The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in
it.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson
• Theories have predictive powers - they guide us into new directions
and force us to ask more questions about nature.
• Examples of theories :
– The Big Bang Theory
– The Theory of Gravity
– The Theory of Electricity
– The Theory of Evolution
 A Note on the Word “Theory” in
Science vs Everyday Usage
• From the American Association for the
Advancement of Science:
– A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some
aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have
been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment.
Such fact-supported theories are not "guesses" but reliable
accounts of the real world. The theory of biological evolution is
more than "just a theory." It is as factual an explanation of the
universe as the atomic theory of matter or the germ theory of
disease. Our understanding of gravity is still a work in progress. But
the phenomenon of gravity, like evolution, is an accepted fact
• In everyday usage, a theory is a hunch or speculation
 Science is Always Open to Revision and
Independent Confirmation of Results

• Every assertion regarding the natural world is

subject to challenge and revision based upon
old and new evidence
• Scientists encourage independent
confirmation of their results
• This does NOT mean that you are free to pick
and choose what you “believe” to be true
 Observation – Many of the plants,
animals, and geologic formations in
Brazil are similar or identical to
those in Western Africa
• Hypothesis – there were land bridges
connecting these two areas. These land
bridges have since sunk into the ocean,
isolating the flora and fauna of Brazil and
Western Africa
 Old Theories to Explain Plant &
Animal Distribution: Land Bridges
Paradigm Shift: Plate Tectonics
 Models
• Model: A reconstruction of nature for the purpose of
study Why make models? Nature can be both very
simple and very complex; e.g., although there may be
many factors operating, many phenomena can be
adequately explained by a much smaller number

• Models are typically composed of:

– Simplification: leaving out complicating factors in order to
focus on more fundamental ones
– Abstraction: one factor represents a host of other ones
– Sometimes unrealistic assumptions - no friction,
completely random mating, etc.
– A model that included everything would be identical to the
real world and just as hard to understand!
 More Models
• A model does not
necessarily need to be
accurate to be useful
– Light as a particle and light as
a wave
– The Bohr model of the atom
 Experimental Design
• Experiments should be simple, repeatable,
and minimize steps and variables
• Randomization is important
• Experiments need proper controls
– Controls allow for a comparison of data and
effects
– Controls are needed to eliminate alternate
explanations of experimental results.
– Placebo Effect – the placebo is a control!
– Double Blind Experiments – controls for
experimental bias
 Experimental Design
• Experiments are designed to test the validity
of your hypothesis
– Remember, all good experiments should try to
disprove the hypothesis
– Only a robust and valid hypothesis will we able to
stand up against repeated attempts to disprove it
• Experiments should be simple, repeatable,
and minimize steps and variables
• Randomization is important
 Experimental Design
• Experiments need proper controls & variables
– Controls allow for a comparison of data and
effects
• Provides the basis of comparison for your variables
– Variables are defined, measurable components of
an experiment
• Controlling variables in an experiment allows a scientist
to quantify changes that occur
• Controls are needed to eliminate alternate explanations
of experimental results.
– The Intro to Science online lab will talk much more
about these
 Experimental Design
• When doing medical experiments, you need a
special control – the Placebo
– A placebo is anything that seems to be a "real"
medical treatment -- but isn’t
• Frequently referred to as a sugar pill
– Placebo Effect – a psychological effect that will
make you feel better even though there is no
physiological effect
• Mind Over Matter
– Placebo Effect – the placebo is a control!
 Experimental Design
• In order for a placebo to work, the recipient
must think it is actually medicine
– Since the recipients don’t know what treatment
they are getting (and are probably not informed of
placebos at all), this is known as a Single Blind
Experiment
 Experimental Design
• Double Blind Experiments
– Neither the recipients nor the people collecting
data knows which group received which
treatment
– Controls for experimental bias
– Removes the potential for someone to question
the integrity of an exeriment
 Thought Exercise
• You have a cold. Your friend
swears that by taking her
grandmother’s herbal
remedy, you’ll feel better
soon. You take it and you
feel better the next day.
Does the grandmother’s
herbal remedy work?
• https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=p8rOKw1FTX0
 Activity – Experimental Design
Observation: The leaves of
maple trees in Illinois fall in
the autumn. This is known as
senescence.

Question: What are the

environmental triggers which
cause the leaves to fall in the
autumn?

Hypotheses:

Experiments:
 Activity – Experimental Design
Observation: The leaves of
maple trees in Illinois fall in
the autumn. This is known as
senescence.

Question: What are the triggers

which cause the leaves to fall
in the autumn?

Hypotheses:

Experiments:
Seasonal Polymorphism
in the Emerald Moth
Nemoria arizonaria
• A researcher discovered a species of moth, Nemoria
arizonaria, that lays its eggs on oak trees. Eggs are
laid at two distinct times of the year: early in spring
when the oak trees are flowering and in midsummer
when flowering is past.
• Caterpillars from eggs that hatch in spring feed on
oak flowers and look like oak flowers. But
caterpillars that hatch in summer feed on oak
leaves and look like oak twigs.
 Seasonal Polymorphism in
Nemoria arizonaria
Caterpillars Hatching in Spring Caterpillars Hatching in Summer
 Seasonal Polymorphism in
Nemoria arizonaria
Caterpillars Hatching in Spring Oak Catkins (Flowers)
 Seasonal Polymorphism in
Nemoria arizonaria
• How does the same population of moths produce
such different-looking caterpillars on the same trees?
– To answer this question, the biologist caught many female
moths from the same population and collected their eggs.
– She put at least one egg from each female into eight
identical cups.
– The eggs hatched, and at least two larvae from each
female were maintained in one of the four temperature
and light conditions listed below.
 Seasonal Polymorphism in
Nemoria arizonaria
• In each of the four environments, one of the
caterpillars was fed oak flowers, the other oak
leaves. Thus, there were a total of eight
treatment groups (4 environments × 2 diets).
Seasonal Polymorphism in
Nemoria arizonaria

Science 03 Feb 1989: Vol. 243, Issue 4891, pp. 643-646

 Seasonal Polymorphism in
Nemoria arizonaria
• What are the variables in this experiment?
• Do we have a control?
 Seasonal Polymorphism in
Nemoria arizonaria
• What are the variables in this experiment?
• Do we have a control?
– In these cases, the control is what you seen in
nature
• Springlike Temperatures, Spring Daylength, Fed Oak
Flowers (1)
• Summerlike Temperatures, Summer Daylength, Fed Oak
Leaves (8)
Why Do Giraffes Have Long Necks?
• Ask any first-grader, they’ll tell you

• Hypotheses
• Experiments