D E V E L O P M E N T

L TA
Critical thinking skills

Considering ideas from multiple

perspectives

There is sometimes a conict between science and

religion. For example, the creationist belief that the

Earth was created only a few thousand years ago

disagrees with Darwin’s theory of evolution (also see

Chapter 7, Form, for how Galileo’s model of the solar

system angered the Roman Catholic Church).

The difference between the two arises from the

scientic method. Science uses testable hypotheses

to examine whether theories work. Religion, on the

other hand, uses different approaches to knowledge –

for example, faith. As a result, religious views do not

provide scientic, testable hypotheses.

Many scientists hold religious views and see no

conict, and there are religious organizations

A car toon from 1874 showing Charles

that look to promote harmony between the two

Dar win as one of the apes he suggested

that we are descended from disciplines.

1 Discuss which has made the greater contribution to human progress: science or religion.

M E A S U R E M E N T
Do all experiments have to have a

hypothesis?

The scientic method uses the idea of a hypothesis, but sometimes

an experiment can seem not to have one. Often the hypothesis exists

even though it does not form part of the original experiment.

Some experiments have the simple aim of measuring a quantity,

for example, the charge of an electron. It might appear that such

an experiment does not have a hypothesis; however, there is an

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accepted value for the charge of an electron, –1.6×10 C, and this

essentially serves as the hypothesis. Although the new measurement

might be more precise, it will either agree with, or improve, an

existing value, or suggest that previous measurements were wrong.

Sometimes an experiment might consist of an observation that cannot

be fully explained with current theories. For example, in 1859 Le Verrier

noticed that Mercury’s orbit rotated gradually by about 0.0016° per

year. Most of this could be explained by Mercury’s interaction with the

Sun and by gravitational interactions with other planets. However,

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Le Verrier’s measurements showed that Mercury’s

orbit was rotating a little bit faster than could be

explained. In other words, the theories of gravity

and motion, mainly according to Newton,

hypothesized a rotation of 0.00148° per year

whereas the measured value of the rotation of

Mercury’s orbit was 0.00159° per year. This is

not a large discrepancy, but the measurements

Sun

were very precise so experimental uncertainty

Mercury
could not account for this difference.

When Einstein published his theory of general

relativity in 1915, it accounted for this extra

rotation and Mercury’s orbit was one of the

Mercur y ’s orbit rotates slightly. This diagram is

rst tests of the theory. An important step in

exaggerated as each successive orbit of Mercur y

the scientic method is publishing theories and

is only rotated by about 0.0004°

letting other scientists test them.

L TA

Information literacy skills

Publishing a scientic paper

Publishing a scientic paper is different to many other forms of

publishing in that most scientic journals put the paper through

a process of peer review before publishing it. This means that the

paper is examined by one or more researchers in the eld who judge

whether the paper is worth publishing or not. To be published, a

paper should report new experimental data or new theoretical work.

The idea of peer review is that scientists in the same eld are best

placed to judge whether the paper draws valid conclusions. They

are also able to judge whether or not the work is original – in rare

cases the work that is presented might be plagiarized (this means

that the authors are claiming credit for work that was carried out

by someone else).

Almost all scientic papers build on the work of others. It is

important that this work is correctly referenced so that the

authors acknowledge this work. The reviewers of a paper ensure

that such work is correctly referenced so that there can be no

accusations of plagiarism.

One of the predictions of general relativity is that large masses

bend the path of light. To test this, Arthur Eddington organized

an expedition to Brazil and Africa to observe the total eclipse on

29May 1919. His aim was to photograph the eclipse and measure the

position of the background stars which would normally be obscured

by the Sun’s brightness. Before he went he took a photograph of the

stars from Oxford to use as a comparison. Since this photograph was

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