Exemplary+Post+1

“This act of mystical significance in which man uncovers yet another secret of nature is at the very heart of science.” I’m not sure if I can completely agree with this statement. Burke uses the example of several scientists who had their greatest discoveries come to them in an almost magical way. While I believe the bases for these discoveries can come suddenly, I do not like how Burke’s writing implies there is nothing else to it. Although the idea may have appeared mysteriously, it still took them time, effort, and skill to work out the details. He is almost undermining these scientists as people who just happened to have a good idea come to them. After all, Kuhn states, “Normal science does not aim at novelties of fact or theory and, when successful, finds none.” The aim of science is to find facts, not to find fame. Halwes explains that the true scientific method is the process of science improving knowledge. This is the bases of science; not what is written in some textbooks. The scientific method is not some steps to test a hypothesis, but merely the advancement of knowledge. . Kuhn goes on to say that scientists often do not make discoveries because they are blinded by their expectations. This is supported by Burke who writes, ““Reality is what the brain makes it.” It is all in the way that your mind chooses to perceive things. This is why everything in “the external world is…theory-laden.” Scientists view it in this way, but we can never be sure so it remains a theory. I agree with this view point. That we can always have evidence to support something, but we can never be 100% sure. Einstein once said, ""No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong." . I do agree that in the past, “Nature was transient, full of decay, ephemeral, not worth investigating.” No one wanted to question it because it was thought to be controlled by the gods. Burke then goes into a summary of the different advances in thinking from the Arabs, to geometry, to Copernicus, to agriculture and medicine. He goes into detail on how, Overall, I think this may have been my favorite chapter so far.