A hypothesis is a suggested explanation for an event, which can be tested. The steps of the scientific method will be examined in detail later, but one of the most important aspects of this method is the testing of hypotheses. The scientific method is a method of research with defined steps that include experiments and careful observation. Science has cannot investigate these areas because they are outside the realm of material phenomena, the phenomena of matter and energy, and cannot be observed and measured. These include such things as answering purely moral questions, aesthetic questions, or what can be generally categorized as spiritual questions. There are however, areas of knowledge and human experience that the methods of science cannot be applied to. The history of the past 500 years demonstrates that science is a very powerful way of knowing about the world it is largely responsible for the technological revolutions that have taken place during this time. Science is a very specific way of learning, or knowing, about the world. Watch a video about the reductional approach of western science.īiology is a science, but what exactly is science? What does the study of biology share with other scientific disciplines? Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning “knowledge”) can be defined as knowledge about the natural world. In this micrograph, the bacterium is visualized using a scanning electron microscope and digital colorization. coli), a bacterium that is a normal resident of our digestive tracts but which is also sometimes responsible for disease outbreaks. Figure 1.15 Biologists may choose to study Escherichia coli (E. Whatever its goal, there is no doubt that science, including biology, has transformed human existence and will continue to do so. Other science proceeds largely motivated by curiosity. Like politics, science has considerable practical implications and some science is dedicated to practical applications, such as the prevention of disease. ![]() Science also requires considerable imagination and creativity a well-designed experiment is commonly described as elegant, or beautiful. The methods of science include careful observation, record keeping, logical and mathematical reasoning, experimentation, and submitting conclusions to the scrutiny of others. ![]() In this sense, biology, like all sciences is a social enterprise like politics or the arts. The discoveries of biology are made by a community of researchers who work individually and together using agreed-on methods. Specifically, biology is the study of life. Like geology, physics, and chemistry, biology is a science that gathers knowledge about the natural world. ![]() These (b) stromatolites along the shores of Lake Thetis in Western Australia are ancient structures formed by the layering of cyanobacteria in shallow waters. Figure 1.14 Formerly called blue-green algae, the (a) cyanobacteria seen through a light microscope are some of Earth’s oldest life forms.
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