Understanding Equations and the Scientific Method

Distinguish between a hypothesis and a theory.

A hypothesis is an educated guess, whereas a theory encompasses well tested and verified hypotheses.

What is the test for whether a hypothesis is scientific or not?

A hypothesis is scientific if it is possible to prove it wrong.

In daily life, we see many cases of people who are caught misrepresenting things and who soon thereafter are excused and accepted by their contemporaries. How is this different in science?

A scientist who lies in a scientific publication will suffer professional excommunication.

Why is physics considered to be the basic science?

Because all other sciences can be shown to be derived from it.

What is the role of equations in this book?

Equations are guides to thinking and show connections between concepts.

What are the steps of the scientific method?

Hypothesis, predictions, and experimental findings.

Why are students of the arts encouraged to learn about science and science students encouraged to learn about the arts?

Knowing both the arts and sciences makes for a wholeness in the way we view the world.

Must people choose between science and religion?

No, there is no contradiction in being scientific and religious in one's thinking.

Clearly distinguish between science and technology.

Science gathers the knowledge that technology uses for practical purposes.

In daily life, people are often praised for maintaining some particular point of view, for the "courage of their convictions." A change of mind is seen as a sign of weakness. How is this different in science?

When a scientist finds evidence that contradicts a law, then the law must be abandoned.

What test can you perform to increase the chance in your own mind that you are right about a particular idea?

Write a clear explanation of your idea and share it with everyone to gather objections.