Complexity: A Guided Tour.
By Melanie Mitchell. New York, Oxford University Press, 2009. Index,
bibliography, notes, 349 pages. ISBN: 9780199798100. VSCL.
Science
Philosophy of Science, History of Science, Reasoning, Experimentation,
Research, Theories,
Facts, Methods, Protocols, Evidence, Documentation
Quantification, Universality, Technology, Applications
Bibliography
Links
Quotes Notes
Complexity Interdependence Biology Intellectual History Naturalism
Psychology Medicine Cloud Hands Blog
Research by Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.
Quotations, Sayings, Notes
Philosophy of Science, History of Science, Experimentation, Theories, Facts, Quantification, Falsifiable
"The ultimate test of a scientific hypothesis is
experiment. Experiment specifically means that you don't just wait for
nature to do something, and passively observe it and see what it correlates
with. You go in there and do something. You manipulate.
You change something, in a systematic way, and compare the result with a
'control' that lacks the change, or you compare it with a different change."
- Richard Dawkins, The Greatest Show on Earth, 2009, p.66
"Much of what we know about plant physiology is based on
results from carefully designed experiments. Whether biologists, chemists,
or physicists, experimental researchers employ a common systematic approach in
their work when they follow the so-called scientific method. Research is
begun when observations of a particular biological or physical phenomena are
made, both directly by the investigator and indirectly through the accounts of
other scientists (and in some cases, amateurs) in scientific and other
publications. Extensive research in a library is an important prerequisite
to experimentation. For example, a plant physiologist interested in the
Venus' flytrap and its rapid leaf closure many spend months searching the
literature to become thoroughly acquainted with previously reported information
and opinions on both the specific and related topics, in this case, plant
movements in general.
The second stage of the scientific method is the formulation
of a hypothesis, a provisional conjecture based solely on preliminary
observations of how the phenomenon takes place. The hypothesis is then
tested by a series of carefully planned experiments. To be of value, such
experiments must focus on the specific objective of study by limiting the number
of external factors that may influence the outcome; and then it must be repeated
several time to determine whether comparable results are obtainable.
Well-planned experimental design, the accuracy of the techniques employed, and
the ability of other scientists to duplicate the work are crucial to the quality
of scientific endeavor.
Experiments may include laboratory tests of the plant's
responses to various treatments, studies of the organism in its native habitat,
microscopic examination of cells and tissues, or a combination of these and
other methods. The results of each experiment are recorded and, from time
to time, evaluated for their contribution to an understanding of the topic under
study. From analysis of the accumulated data other experiments may be
undertaken, techniques refined, and different approaches to the problem devised.
Finally, when sufficient and convincing evidence has been
collected for presentation to the scientific community, conclusions are drawn
that may, or may not, support the original hypothesis. Regardless of the
outcome, the gathered information is of use to other scientists only if it
reported factually and without bias on the part of the investigator.
Nowhere, in all human knowledge, must truth be accounted for more rigorously
than in the world of science."
- Brian Capon, Botany for Gardeners, 2010, p. 146
"I believe that a unification of science is indeed
possible if we are willing to expand the concept of science to include the basic
principles and concepts of not only the physical but also the biological
sciences. Such a new philosophy of science will need to adopt a greatly
enlarged vocabulary─one that includes such words as biopopulation, telenomy, and
program. It will have to abandon its loyalty to a rigid essentialism and
determinism in favor of a broader recognition of stochastic processes, a
pluralism of causes and effects, the hierarchical organization of much of
nature, the emergence of unanticipated properties at higher hierarchical levels,
the internal cohesion of complex systems, and many other concepts absent from─or
at lest neglected by─the classical philosophy of science."
- Ernst Mayr, Toward a New Philosophy of Biology, 1988, p. 21
"Recall that people are poor in assessing probabilities,
especially small ones, and instead play out scenarios in their mind's eye.
If two scenarios are equally imaginable, they may be considered equally
probable, and people will worry about the genuine hazard no more than about the
science-fiction plotline. And the more ways people can imagine bad things
happening, the higher their estimate that something bad will happen."
- Steven Pinker, p.292,
Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress,
2018.
I can equally imagine either enjoying surf fishing near Manzanita, Oregon, or fleeing from an incoming tsunami from an earthquake offshore near Manzanita. The first is highly probable, the second is highly unlikely. But overactive imaginations can cause some to never go near the ocean surf out of misplaced fear. Just because we can imagine and create vivid stories (fiction) about Yeti's, ghosts, Kraken, devils, disasters, aliens from space, etc., does not make them anything but highly unlikely and not worth troubling over in your daily life. Weight the risks reasonably, buck up, and carry on.
Bibliography, Links, Resources
Science: Physics, Chemistry, Biology
These are books I am reading, studying, using or have read that are in my home library (VSCL) in Red Bluff, California; or from books borrowed from local public or university libraries.
Cloud Hands
Blog By Mike Garofalo.
Complexity
Quotes, Sayings, Notes
Complexity: A Guided Tour.
Cosmos
By Carl Sagan. New York, Ballantine Books, 1996. Index, references,
457 pages. ISBN: 9780345409461. VSCL. A thorough investigation
of pseudo-science in contemporary life.
Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. By Steven Pinker. Random House, 2018. Index, bibliography, notes, 556 pages.
"The
History of Science" by Stephen F. Mason. Collier, 1956.
VSCL.
History of Science in Wikipedia
Naturalism, Scientific Attitude,
Non-religious, Free Thought Compiled by Mike
Garofalo.
Touching, Touch, Hands,
Fingers
Toward a New Philosophy of Biology: Observations of an Evolutionist.
By Ernst Mayr
(1904-2005). Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1988. Index,
bibliography, endnotes, 564 pages. ISBN: 0674896661. Read in 1/2017.
TCPL.
Religion and Anti-Scientific
Views
Royal Society Prizes for the best popular science books of the years
from 1988-2017.
VSCL = Valley Spirit Center Library, Red Bluff, California
How to Life a Good Life: Lifestyle Advice from Wise Persons
Index to A Philosopher's Notebooks
Green Way Research, Red Bluff, California
This webpage was last updated, revised, improved,
changed or supplemented January 30, 2021.
This webpage was first distributed online on March 12, 2014.
Brief Biography of Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.
Index to A Philosopher's Notebooks