Adam+Week+2

Francis Bacon was one of the first men to describe the process of scientific advancement. His ideas were the foundation that the scientific method was built on. He said that “scientific progress is a matter of finding the correct method, that is, the correct method is equivalent to the truth.” He also realized that “the ultimate goal of science is the practical utility for the benefit mankind.” His method was to observe nature and proceed inductively from there, creating conclusions that can be tested. Aristotle argued that the highest human faculty was reason. Aristotle studied many different subject matters but had one general method of discovery. 1. Define the subject matter. 2. Consider prior research. 3. Present personal findings. He defined his laws of motion, saying that heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones and that it was a proportional relationship. He did not spend any time trying to prove his laws correct; he just threw them out to the world and moved on. He would have seen that he was wrong quickly. The people of Babylon realized that a standard system of weights and measures would ease their lives greatly. They based most of their measures and quantities off of sixty such as how we use tens, in the metric system. Basing their systems off of sixty allowed most people to do most calculations inside their heads easily. What is science? Bacon puts forth the idea that the ultimate goal of science is to help mankind. This is what I consider science to be. Science is any kind of research that helps solve a problem or ease difficulties in daily life. The invention of the lever is an example of a worthwhile scientific finding that has eased our lives a lot. Sometimes it seems like the research may not have a direct impact on life and we have to delve deeper to find it. Searching for far off stars is a perfect example of this. What does a farmer in Montana care that there is a newly found star __lightyears away? Science has to have a sensible use to a group of people in order to be worth the time.