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Understanding Science 101 PDF

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281 views2 pages

Understanding Science 101 PDF

Uploaded by

Sunshine Marie
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Understanding Science: An overview


To understand what science is, just look around you. What do you see? Perhaps, your
hand on the mouse, a computer screen, papers, ballpoint pens, the family cat, the
sun shining through the window . Science is, in one sense, our knowledge of all that
all the stuff that is in the universe: from the tiniest subatomic particles in a single
atom of the metal in your computers circuits, to the nuclear reactions that formed the
immense ball of gas that is our sun, to the complex chemical interactions and electrical fluctuations within your own body that allow you to read and understand these
words. But just as importantly, science is also a reliable process by which we learn
about all that stuff in the universe. However, science is different from many other
ways of learning because of the way it is done. Science relies on testing ideas with
evidence gathered from the natural world. This website will help you learn more about
science as a process of learning about the natural world and access the parts of science that affect your life.

Its all science.

Science helps satisfy the natural curiosity with which we are all born: why is the sky
blue, how did the leopard get its spots, what is a solar eclipse? With science, we can
answer such questions without resorting to magical explanations. And science can
lead to technological advances, as well as helping us learn about enormously important and useful topics, such as our health, the environment, and natural hazards.
Without science, the modern world would not be modern at all, and we still have much
to learn. Millions of scientists all over the world are working to solve different parts of
the puzzle of how the universe works, peering into its nooks and crannies, deploying
their microscopes, telescopes, and other tools to unravel its secrets.

Scientists are everywhere, unravelling the secrets of the universe.

Science is complex and multi-faceted, but the most important characteristics of science are straightforward:
Science focuses exclusively on the natural world, and does not deal with supernatural explanations.
Science is a way of learning about what is in the natural world, how the natural
world works, and how the natural world got to be the way it is. It is not simply a
collection of facts; rather it is a path to understanding.
Scientists work in many different ways, but all science relies on testing ideas by

2013 The University of California Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley, and the Regents of the University of California www.understandingscience.org

2
figuring out what expectations are generated by an idea and making observations
to find out whether those expectations hold true.
Accepted scientific ideas are reliable because they have been subjected to rigorous testing, but as new evidence is acquired and new perspectives emerge these
ideas can be revised.
Science is a community endeavor. It relies on a system of checks and balances,
which helps ensure that science moves in the direction of greater accuracy and
understanding. This system is facilitated by diversity within the scientific community, which offers a broad range of perspectives on scientific ideas.
To many, science may seem like an arcane, ivory-towered institution but that impression is based on a misunderstanding of science. In fact:
Science affects your life everyday in all sorts of different ways.
Science can be fun and is accessible to everyone.
You can apply an understanding of how science works to your everyday life.
Anyone can become a scientist of the amateur or professional variety.

Science doesnt just take place in laboratories. You can have fun with and make use of science in everyday
life.

Volvox photo provided by Micrographica; diesel engine photo provided by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory;
Mount Hood photo provided by Marguerite Gregory California Academy of Sciences; Saturn photo provided by NASA/
JPL/Space Science Institute; scientist using data analyzer photo provided by CDC/ Hsi Liu, Ph.D., MBA, James Gathany;
astronaut photo provided by NASA; scientist measuring swan provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; birdwatching
photo provided by F. Albert Ellis California Academy of Sciences; paper planes photo provided by James Tubbs from his
Misterteacher flickr photostream (CC BY-ND 2.0); fish market photo provided by NH567s flickr photostream (CC BY-NC 2.0).

2013 The University of California Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley, and the Regents of the University of California www.understandingscience.org

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