Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence Third Edition (2011) / Chapter Skim
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How Science Works--David Goodstein
How Science Works--David Goodstein
Pages 37-54
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From page 37... ...
Theories of Science, 39 A. Francis Bacon's Scientific Method, 39 B. Karl Popper's Falsification Theory, 40 C. Thomas Kuhn's Paradigm Shifts, 41 D. An Evolved Theory of Science, 43 IV. Becoming a Professional Scientist, 45 A. The Institutions, 45 B. The Reward System and Authority Structure, 46 V. Some Myths and Facts About Science, 47 VI.
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From page 38... ...
II. A Bit of History Modern science can reasonably be said to have come into being during the time of Queen Elizabeth I of England and William Shakespeare.
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From page 39... ...
His name was Sir Francis Bacon, and in his magnum opus, which he called Novum Organum, he put forth the first theory of the scientific method. In Bacon's view, the scientist should be an impartial observer of nature, collecting observations with a mind cleansed of harmful preconceptions that might cause error to creep into the scientific record.
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From page 40... ...
B Karl Popper's Falsification Theory Over the past century, the ideas of the Vienna-born philosopher Sir Karl opper have had a profound effect on theories of the scientific method.5 In P contrast to Bacon, Popper believed that all science begins with a prejudice, or perhaps more politely, a theory or hypothesis.
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From page 41... ...
Credit in science is most often given for offering correct theories, not wrong ones, or for demonstrating the correctness of unexpected predictions, not for falsifying them. I know of no example of a Nobel Prize awarded to a scientist for falsifying his or her own theory.
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From page 42... ...
It is even possible that Sir Francis Bacon's disinterested observer was a reaction to Aristotelian authority. Look to nature, not to the ancient texts, Bacon may have been saying.
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D An Evolved Theory of Science If neither Bacon nor Popper nor Kuhn gives us a perfect description of what science is or how it works, all three of them help us to gain a much deeper understanding of it.
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From page 44... ...
The development of legal constructs, such as due process, equal protection, and individual privacy, reflects notable progress in the betterment of mankind. See Laura Kalman, The Strange Career of Legal Liberalism 2–4 (1996)
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From page 45... ...
, the National Institutes of 11. The Supreme Court received differing views regarding the proper role of peer review. Compare Brief for Amici Curiae Daryl E
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From page 46... ...
When they speak of a colleague who has become president of a famous university, they will say sadly, "It's a pity -- he was still capable of good work," sounding like warriors lamenting the loss of a fallen comrade. The university president is a kingpin of the authority structure, but, with rare exceptions, he is a dropout from the reward system.
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From page 47... ...
About two-thirds of all postdoctoral fellows in biology in American universities believe that they are going to make this step, but in fact, only about a quarter of them succeed. This step and all subsequent steps require growing renown as a scientist beyond the individual's own circle of acquaintances.
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From page 48... ...
Following is a brief list of some others: Myth: Scientists must have open minds, being ready to discard old ideas in favor of new ones. Fact: Because science is an adversarial process through which each idea deserves the most vigorous possible defense, it is useful for the suc cessful progress of science that scientists tenaciously cling to their own ideas, even in the face of contrary evidence.
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From page 49... ...
For instance, the recent Institute of Medicine report Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice sheds light on the changing dimensions of conflicts of interest associated with growing interdisciplinary col laborations between individuals, universities, and industry especially in life sciences and biomedical research.14 Myth: Real science is easily distinguished from pseudoscience. Fact: This is what philosophers call the problem of demarcation: One of Popper's principal motives in proposing his standard of falsifiability was precisely to provide a means of demarcation between real science and impostors.
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From page 50... ...
17. According to the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine's 2008 report Science, Evolution, and Creationism, "the strength of a theory rests in part on providing scientists with the basis to explain observed phenomena and to predict what they are likely to find when exploring new phenomena and observations." The report also helps differentiate a theory from a hypothesis, the latter being testable natural explanations that may offer tentative scientific insights. 18. Kitzmiller v.
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From page 51... ...
Also, all forces arise from a few fundamental forces, most notably gravity and the electric force. The word carries no other baggage.
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. 20. Chief Justice Rehnquist, responding to the majority opinion in Daubert, was the first to express his uneasiness with the task assigned to federal judges, as follows: "I defer to no one in my confidence in federal judges; but I am at a loss to know what is meant when it is said that the scientific status of a theory depends on its ‘falsifiability,' and I suspect some of them will be, too." 509 U.S.
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From page 53... ...
Carmichael23) have led to increasing attention on the part of judges to scientific and technical issues and have led to the increased exclusion of expert testimony, but the Daubert criteria seem too general to resolve many of the difficult decisions the courts face when considering scientific evidence.
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From page 54... ...
Applying it in practice will never be easy, but then that is what this manual is about.26 25. See supra note 16. 26. For further reading, see John Ziman, PublicKnowledge: An Essay Concerning the Social Dimension of Science (Cambridge University Press 1968)
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