History, Philosophy & Ethics + Microscopy Flashcards
What book did Thomas Kuhn write in 1962, which radically changed the way we think about how science develops?
Thomas Kuhn wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolution in 1962 which radically changed the way we think about science develops from one idea to a next.
Define a paradigm in terms of scientific theories.
A paradigm is a framework of knowledge, methods, assumptions etc. which explains the subject.
What did Kuhn say most scientists engaged in?
Kuhn said that most scientists engaged in normal science. In normal science, scientific facts gradually discovered which fit the paradigm but do not question or challenge it.
Define and exemplar and give an example.
An exemplar is a problem or illustration that students of a scientific subject learn during their education e.g., the Haber process, in Chemistry, is an exemplar for equilibria and catalysis.
Describe how anomalies in normal science lead to a paradigm shift.
Normal science uncovers anomalies which are hard to explain using the current paradigm shift. In some cases, anomalies may increase until the old paradigm is unable to account for them and normal science becomes impossible. The scientific community then enters a crisis, which is either solved by normal science or, the efforts to work within a paradigm fail, and a paradigm shift is necessary.
What happens during a paradigm shift?
During a paradigm shift, all the assumptions underlying the old paradigm the field are reassessed and a new paradigm is established.
Give an example of a paradigm shift.
The classic example of paradigm shift is the Copernican revolution. In 1534, Nicolaus Copernicus published On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres which disproved the Ptolemy’s geocentric model of the universe with a heliocentric one.
When did Dalton publish A New System of Chemical Philosophy and what did this theorise?
Dalton published A New System of Chemical Philosophy in 1808 which contained the law of multiple proportions which said if the same two elements can be combined to form a number of different compounds, then the ratios of masses of the two elements in those compounds will be represented by small whole numbers. Dalton recognised this observation could be explained by atomic theory going against the beliefs of Antoine Lavoisier.
Who first synthesised urea and when?
Urea was first synthesised in 1828 by Friedrich Wohler. This refuted vitalism.
When was the first periodic table published?
Mendeleev published the first periodic table in 1869.
Apart from gallium and germanium which two elements unknown in 1869 were predicted by Mendeleev’s periodic table?
Technetium and Scandium
When did Pauling publish The Nature of the Chemical Bond?
Linus Pauling published The Nature of the Chemical Bond in 1939.
When was Pauling awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry?
Pauling was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1954.
What did Pauling theorise in The Nature of the Chemical Bond?
In The Nature of the Chemical Bond, Pauling used the principles of quantum mechanics to derive the strengths and arrangements of bonds to a complete theory of magnetism in molecules and complex ions. He was also able to predict new electronic structures and properties for atoms.
Modern experimental physics can be considered to have started with ... A. Francis Bacon B. Aristotle C. Hasan ibn al-Haytham D. Jabir ibn Ḥayyan
The correct answer was C. Hasan Ibn al-Haytham was described as the founder of modern experimental physics in lectures, because of his work on designing experiments and because of his responses to experiments that tested his hypotheses.
When did Hasan Ibn al-Haytham write “The Book of Optics” and why is it significant?
Hasan Ibn al-Haytham wrote “The Book Of Optics” in the 10 years from 1011 CE. Hasan carried out opitcal research using systemic and methodical experiments, the first to make systematic use of variations in experimental conditions in a constant and uniform fashion so he is often considered to have founded modern experimental physics.
Which book was written by Bacon in 1620 and was instrumental to the development of the scientific method?
In 1620, Bacon wrote The Novum Organum and the techniques Bacon used in it centred on experimental research. He argued this was necessary to overcome the natural bias of the human mind to seek metaphysical explanations which are not based on real observations.
Empiricism says that …
A. reason proceeds from specific observations to more general theories
B. we possess an innate knowledge of certain subjects.
C. the evidence scientists discover through experiments is of fundamental importance
D. complicated systems can be reduced to simpler ones.
The correct answer was C. A describes the philosophy of inductivism, B rationalism which is thought of as the opposite of empiricism and D reductionism: can all chemistry be reduced to quantum mechanics for example.
Give examples of empircist philosophers.
British empiricist philosophers inlcude John Locke and David Hume.
What does empiricism say of hypothesis?
Empircism says all hypotheses and theories must be tested against observations rather than relying only on reasoning from first principles, intuition, or revelation.
Describe verification principle.
Their central thesis of verification principle is that only empirically verifiable statements are meaningful, unless they are simple logical truths, such as “two is greater than one”. The verification principle discards as meaningless the metaphysical statements of traditional philosophy, as well as ethical, aesthetic, or religious statements, which are asserted as true but neither simply logical nor known from experience.
Define demarcartion
Demaraction answers the question: what qualifies something as science or non-science?
What did Karl Popper aim to do?
Karl Poppper replaced verifcation with the idea of falsifiability as the confirmation of a statement as scientific. Falisification say that statements must be capable of conflicting with possible observations. E.g. “all swans are white” - to verify: requires measuring all swans, technologically not resonable.
To falsify: discovery of a single black swan technologically resonable and sufficient to logically falsify original hypothesis.
What characteristics must a subject show in order to be classified as science?
If a subject is to be classed as science, then it must show the following characteristics:
• It follows laws which summarise the results of observations.
• It can be tested against experiments and observations.
• Its conclusions are tentative.
• Its hypotheses are falsifiable.
