Transcript The Culture of Science - CREOL - University of Central Florida

The History of Physics,
Cultural Connections and
Other Issues
Michael Bass
CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics
University of Central Florida
[email protected]
407-823-6977
CROL 161
Spring 2016
Web site:
http://www.creol.ucf.edu/Academics/Courses/CourseMaterial.aspx?Course=ISC6416
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Administrivia
This is a 1 unit course.
Unlike most science courses it is open for discussion.
– There is no controversy over Newton’s Laws of Motion but there
might be over Newton.
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Your participation is critical- take part!!!!!
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Additional sessions:
– If there is interest we can meet on Thursdays, same time, for
open discussions.
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Web site
www.creol.ucf.edu/Academics/Courses/CourseMaterial.aspx?Course
=ISC6416
has outline, reading list, and write up that I prepared to introduce you
to this subject.
Schedule
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Discussion of what is a culture, what is the Culture of Science, what are
scientific ethics, what can go right/wrong – some comments on fraud
and pathological science.
How did science get started?
The Copernican Revolution and the Newtonian Synthesis
Scientific Controversies
Conservation Laws, Thermodynamics and the Arrow of Time
Electricity, Magnetism and Electromagnetics – Maxwell, Symmetry and
Unification
Measurement, Relativity, Einstein and Everything Else
Quantum Mechanics – Part I
Quantum Mechanics – Part II
Quantum Mechanics – Part III
Five Experiments that Define Modern Optics
Time and the Past and Future Histories of the Universe
Magic Numbers Make the Universe: The Miracle of Stars and Why We Are
The Modern World- We Owe it to Physics
More Stuff
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One evening, after we have discussed Scientific
Controversies, we will view a dramatization of the
trial in Pennsylvania over Intelligent Design and
Science.
– After 2/2 and before 2/9
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On another evening, after we have considered
Bohr’s and Heisenberg’s contributions, we will view
the play Copenhagen and discuss it.
– After 3/22 and before 3/29
Some questions
How old is the universe?
How big is it?
How old is the solar
system?
How do we fit
into the vastness
of the universe?
Are we important in the grand
scheme of the universe?
Are we important?
Why do answers to these questions matter
and what kind of answers are important?
I hope to give you some material to think
about such questions in this course.
A definition
Science is a method of interrogating
reality, a cumulative process of testing
new and more refined explanations, not
an assertion of dry, unalterable facts.
 It is a way of asking questions, not of
imposing answers.
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What is science?
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Common beliefs
Common behaviors
Common attitudes
Common ways of
thinking/seeing
Common modes of living
Common arts
Common
technologies/sciences/views of
the world and universe
Some say
Science
is the subject of
what can be proven wrong.
You can not disprove
belief!!!!
How does science work?
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The two most important questions in science:
– What can I know?
– How can I know it?
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Religion and science part ways over the first.
– Religion thinks it can know why!
– Science thinks it can know how!
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The answer to the second is what defines
modern science.
– Methodology matters as much as the question itself.
Progress in Science
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Scientists use data to form a model or
paradigm and then
– Test it and test it again and again.
 Here the methodology matters
– The tests are either meaningful or not.
– How do you know.
– If anomalies are found that do not fit they
 Modify the paradigm, or
 Replace it.
Who is a scientist?
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All real scientists exist on the frontier.
– They deal with the unknown!
– They develop tools to probe the unknown.
– They explore in a disciplined manner.
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Scientists do not torture the data to find a
result they
– torture the experiments to be sure the
data is correct and meaningful.
Properties of science
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Experiments must be reproducible.
– If A gets a result at her lab then B must get
the same result in his.
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The results must be expandable
– One must be able to:
 Build on it.
 Learn more from it.
 Use it as a foundation to build new structures.
Properties of scientists
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Honest
Ethical
Trustworthy
Not biased
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Examples of this gone astray are pathological
science
– Polywater
– Infinite dilution
– Cold fusion
Science affects culture
Ideas
 Inventions
 Manners of thinking
 Views of our place in the Universe
 Language
 Everyday life
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Culture affects science
What science is conducted
 Where
 By whom
 Conversion to technology
 Utilization
 Diffusion of scientific knowledge
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An example
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Science affects culture
– Manhattan project leads to nuclear weapons
– Modifies how nations behave.
– Results in no WW III (yet?)
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Culture affects science
– Huge funding for atomic and nuclear science.
– Scientists are lionized.
– Eventually scientists become
 Nerds, geeks, awkward, unpopular
 Millionaires, Billionaires, sponsors of next
generation of scientists
For fun- by next Tuesday
Using what you know as scientists design
an extraterrestrial, intelligent lifeform.
What properties must it have, what
capabilities, and what technologies would it
have to have for us to realize that it was an
intelligent lifeform.
Note that here on earth we still can’t
determine how intelligent some species
might be.
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