The Science!

[Edit] Etymology and classification of disciplines scientificheLa word "science" comes from the Latin scientia, meaning knowledge. Since the Enlightenment the word (and its Latin origin) had the meaning of any systematic or exact knowledge of the recording. Consequently, the "science" at that time, had the same kind of meaning given to philosophy, in the broadest sense of the word. For example, a distinction between natural sciences and moral sciences, in the latter are also included philosophy, and this was reflected in the distinction between natural philosophy and moral philosophy. More recently, the "science" is limited to what we call the natural sciences.

The fields of study are often divided into hard sciences and soft sciences (particularly in Anglo-Saxon countries, where the opposition is also used to read science-heavy science) and these terms are synonymous, respectively, of the natural sciences, that is investigating the nature and social sciences / human, that is investigating the 'man in all its facets.

Physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geography and earth sciences earth sciences are the main forms of heavy. The study of anthropology, ethnology, archeology, history, psychology, sociology, political science, economics, philology, literary criticism, linguistics, law, art history and medicine are identified with science read, as they generally lack a basic mathematical structure .

1) The proponents of this division, argue that the so-called science do not lightly use the scientific method strict sense, but often do not accept anecdotal evidence-and-mathematical uses a different criterion of strictly adhering to the canons of scientific method.

2) The opponents of this division, noted that some social scientists often make use of statistical studies, environmental and rigorously tested, also using complex mathematics such as' analysis. They also note that in the natural sciences, for example in the field of behavioral biology or astronomy, the environment is totally uncontrollable, and so there should be limited to mere observation. They also argue that science has suffered heavy, and often still suffer, from lack of rigor in the method as well as the precision of the observations.

In addition there is a widespread tendency (derived comtiana) to consider the universal basis of all mathematics, science, and to consider "heavy" only mathematical sciences, like physics and chemistry, with its applications in astrophysics, particle physics, biochemistry, genetics, engineering, computer science, robotics etc. Other definition applicable to these disciplines is the science of Galileo, named in honor of the method of experimental verification historically formulated and used by Galileo Galilei. Within this theoretical formulation of what science is, strictly speaking, form part of the detractors, however, minority, evolutionary biology, as the physicist Antonino Zichichi, who complain that the biology is not fully make use of mathematics and mathematics only as instrument 's investigation to substantiate its argument.

Sometimes the term "science" is used in the service of new and interdisciplinary fields that make use, at least in part, the scientific method, and that in any case aspire to be explorers careful and systematic study of their subjects, including the computer , information science and environmental science.

[Edit] History of the concept of scienzaSocrate first came to the knowledge of virtue, arguing that the man who did not know what good could not do it. Plato argued that science was more valid opinions because of the lines tied them with causal reasoning. Aristotle developed a more articulated theory according to which science is demonstrative knowledge, ie know the cause of an object, for which the object can not be different from what it is. According to the Stoics, science was the understanding of safe, reliable, unchanging, based on reason.

Modern science is basing its foundations laid by these models and Galilei 'necessary proof "on the same level as the' meaningful experience." The geometric ideal of science dominated the thought of Descartes. Isaac Newton established the concept of descriptive science by contrasting the "method of analysis" to the "method of synthesis." Bernard states that the mere finding of fact by itself could never be a science, you had to learn to think on the comments, judge and compare the facts with other facts which the control function. One of the latest paradigms is that the establishment of scientific laws, including the nature of the laws and how to establish them.

[Edit] scientific models, theories and leggiAl nowadays terms like "hypothesis", "model", "theory" and "physical laws" have precise meanings in scientific and technical language. Scientists use the term "model" to define a useful tool to make predictions that can be verified through experiments and observations. A '"hypothesis" is an assumption not yet supported by rules and procedures. A "physical law" or "natural law" is a scientific generalization which has an absolute value in its field of approximation. E 'duty to know that scientists use the term theory in a technical sense, and often a scientific theory has a solid experimental basis so that they can be considered a fact. Usually you define "theory" an idea not sufficiently supported by empirical evidence, in scientific language this term takes on a meaning opposite. And so when it comes to the theory of evolution, relativity or electromagnetism. However, there are exceptions: In the case of string theory, which corresponds to a physical model extremely useful, you are faced with a theory not yet supported by such evidence can be considered superior to similar competing models.

The theories that pass a series of inspections over time are considered "established" in the scientific sense, ie, are considered acceptable models of reality, theories of which you can trust but can be disproved (falsified in scientific jargon) from an observation in contrast with them. This also includes the universally accepted theories, such as the heliocentric theory and the theory of evolution, which are supported by many observations and experimental data, but are not excluded from being subject to the observations.

Scientific theories are always open to revision if new evidence contradicts the predictions. Science does not claim to have absolute knowledge and final settlement of all phenomena, and even the foundations of a theory may be affected if new data and observations contradict the previous ones (Popper's falsifiability).

Newton's law of gravitation is a good example of how a theory evolves (or is "falsified" according to Popper). At high speed and in the presence of strong gravitational fields that theory fails to correctly describe the observed phenomena, although outside of these conditions fail to provide valid results. It was therefore necessary to introduce the concept of relativity and to develop a revolutionary theory to understand these phenomena. Since the law of general relativity also describes the phenomena included in Newton's law, it is currently considered a better theory than Newton's law of gravitation to describe.

The development of new laws and theories is based largely on the acquisition of more accurate data. As mentioned above, the law of gravitation, Newton is valid within certain limits and can therefore be thought of as an approximation of a law more complex. All new laws or theories are developed to understand the phenomena described by the laws or theories before, but this must include the results obtained by previous theories. For example, general relativity has to find the same values ​​of the law of gravitation conditions for low speeds and weak gravitational fields. Science is evolutionary and so even though new theories were revolutionizing the very foundations, the knowledge gained so far will not change.

This is a key point for understanding the science, otherwise you might think that science is insecure and that all the knowledge we gained may vanish invention of a revolutionary theory.

The new theories incorporate the old theories in a self-sustaining direct to an ever wider knowledge of the physical world. Or, in other words, new theories are more sophisticated and subtle formulations of old, and for this reason best describes the phenomena, but may be considered unfathomable left from previous formulations.

[Edit] Philosophy of science Main article: Philosophy of Science.

The philosophy of science is a discipline of philosophy that developed in parallel to the development of science. The sociology of science is a discipline of sociology that accompanies the philosophy of science. The more general philosophical issues related to science are of

ontological: whether and in what sense can be attributed to a really scientific descriptions of phenomena and what kind of cosmology, cosmogony and metaphysics is in agreement with these descriptions;

epistemological and epistemological: how and why science can provide knowledge;

ethics: the moral implications of scientific assumptions and use of technologies.

[Edit] Mathematics and the scientific method Main article: Scientific method.

The definition favored by Bertrand Russell on mathematics is "a subject in which we never know what we are talking about nor whether what we say is right."

Mathematics was founded as an instrument created by man for the analysis and the study (quantity) of Nature. Its ability to predict certain phenomena has puzzled scientists to the point of asking the question whether Nature herself is not really governed by mathematics and that man, as part of nature, to do other than externalize this intrinsic knowledge (philosophy mathematics).

This paradox can partly be understood considering that scientific research is developed for approximations in order to be able to better describe the observed phenomena. Very often we use approximation techniques (such as Taylor series, Fourier series, which allow you to find ,...); linear equations and / or polynomial experience the observed data and, as a first approximation, many scientific aspects can be studied (within set limits) through very simple equations, such as lines or quadratic, while being governed by laws also extremely complex.

The math and science can be considered distinct from the observations, which are affected by errors of measurement (the term here should be construed as "uncertainty" and not "false"); knowledge of Nature is so limited by our ability to measure it. Applying the scientific method we analyze the observations and derive the mathematical equations they can be the best description, the development of scientific theories is based on our ability to analyze these data to that end have developed statistical techniques (distribution functions) for reducing the uncertainty of the data and refine the theories associated with them.

Having said that we should not interpret the mathematics as a mere tool of science. As a pure research should not be seen or be subject to the technology research practice, so the math should not be science. The development of non-Euclidean geometry, for instance, prepared the study of curvature in general relativity.

[Edit] Objectives of scienzaNonostante there is a strong expectation on it, its purpose is to answer all the questions, but only those relevant to the physical reality. In addition, you can not delegate all the problems, so it's important to choose what questions must be answered.

Science can not prove or produce absolute and unquestionable truth. Rather consistently the best test hypotheses on different aspects of the physical world, and when necessary, it is challenging, revising his theories in the light of new data and observations

Do not presume to describe in absolute terms as nature is at the moment, can only draw conclusions based on observation of nature. For example, the development of quantum mechanics in the early twentieth century shows that the observation is not independent events, and the discovery of wave-particle duality has changed the traditional idea on 'objectivity' of science.

Science, however, is not a source of subjective value judgments, and can have no doubt an important role in ethics, pointing to the likely consequences of certain policy choices.

Every scientific theory develops a model that allows the mathematical representation of the phenomenon in order to be able to make predictions. There are also cases in which the development of a model in a certain branch of science can facilitate the development of other models in other branches of science that they are not necessarily linked.

The ultimate goal of science is understanding and modeling of nature in order to provide power and possibly take action on the development of one or more phenomena.

[Edit] Places of scienzaLa science is practiced not only in universities but also in other scientific institutions and in different sectors. There is a good academic vocations, but is also practiced by amateurs using at least the part of observational science. He also practices in farms, where some researchers sometimes become quite famous in their field work in academia. Conversely it can also happen that some academic researchers become known to the technological implications of their research.