Science

what do you think science is?

Etymology: A borrowing from French. Etymons: French science

A branch of study that deals with a connected body of demonstrated truths or with observed facts systematically classified and more or less comprehended by general laws, and incorporating trustworthy methods (now esp. those involving the scientific method and which incorporate falsifiable hypotheses) for the discovery of new truth in its own domain.

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lets ask Jon Stewart...

lets ask Jon Stewart...

What is true from this video

• scientists do not teach all ideas
• scientists do govern themselves
• (scientists do obtain grants)

Steps of Science

• formulate a question (creativity) hypothesis (conjectures), prediction, testing, and analysis external review sharing and replication
• not always in this order
• lots of serendipty

Hypothesis: There are NO black swans.
Test: Look for a black swan.
Falsifiable? Yes
Potential Falsification: Finding a black swan.
Truth Status: False (there are black swans).

It is not science until ideas are subject to

• peer review
• make data available to all
• subject of further testing and scrutiny

Hypothesis: There are pink elephants.
Test: Look for a pink elephant.
Falsifiable? No
Potential Falsification: None. If you looked around the whole world, maybe it was hiding in Japan while you were in New Zealand. If you saw the whole world simultaneously, maybe it's on Mars. Or another solar system. It's impossible to actually carry out the test.
Truth Status: So far it appears false, but we're not sure. The statment "there is no such thing as a pink elephant" is a good example of something that a non-scientist would call a fact but scientists would say is unproven.

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According to his autobiography, it was while he was in bed with a fever that Wallace thought about Thomas Malthus's idea of positive checks on human population growth and came up with the idea of natural selection.

Science and the Research University

wilhelm von Humboldt

Research Univeristy

• emphasis on creation of new knowledge
• in addition, the transmission of this new knowledge

Berkeley

• first University of California campus 1868
• hired top researchers (Eugene Hilgard)
• one of top research universities by the end of the 19th century

10 reasons to go to research university

• Top researchers can also be top teachers (see above) Courses often incorporate the latest research Faculty can be more energized Possibility of internships and research experience There tend to be more majors Large library system You get contact with graduate students You may be able to take a graduate course Advantages for admission to professional/graduate programs You can develop a high level network

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It is considered by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings as one of six university brands that lead in world reputation rankings in 2015[8] and is ranked third on the U.S. News' 2015 Best Global Universities rankings conducted in the U.S. and nearly 50 other countries.[9] The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) also ranks the University of California, Berkeley fourth in the world overall, and first among public universities. It is broadly ranked first in science, third in engineering, and fifth in social sciences, with specific rankings of first in chemistry, first in physics, third in computer science, fourth in mathematics, and fourth in economics/business.[10] The university is also well known for producing a high number of entrepreneurs.

you see berkeley