Science Intro: A Way of Knowing
Science is the practice of a method of understanding and communication. It may be called the scientific method. This method can be a great help in self-development and in being a successful human being.
As you become better acquainted with this method of understanding you can become a more effective person. You will also develop a better understanding of the sciences in general and in each individual science, even ytterbiumology.
The scientific method generally includes the following doings: observation, identification/recognition, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of natural phenomena. So, a scientist observes a doing or happening and begins to "explain" it. The method is much about how she does ir. That is, how you do it may be more important than what you do.
To be well started, let's define some of our terms. We can begin with the word 'science.' At the beginning we see that science simply means 'knowledge', the business of knowing. Just how one knows is a serious subject. A subject we could check into later. Early in its history science became knowledge gained by 'study' and then quickly came to be the study of particular and specific subjects. Like us, science carries most of its history into the present. In its more modern meaning it has come to mean the technical and mathematical study of a subject. However, the basic method of doing science is both a simpler and more powerful attitude then one might suppose.
We already know that 'method' means 'the way how.' So, science is a particular way of understanding, a particularly effective way of understanding.
It may be useful to remember that the suffix -ology means study. So, for example, anthropology is the study of the human species, of humanity in most of its aspects. It has often been a comparative study of behavior, biology, and societies. Whereas biology is the natural scientific study of life and living organisms. It is one of the more nicely developed sciences. Cells and genes are now important aspects of this study.
It is important that a person interested in science have an understanding of the nature of scientific: observation, identification, explanation, researching, theoretical description and the like. Also developing their ability to recognize and observe natural phenomena is an aid to their use of scientific methodology.
So, to gain scientific knowledge and to communicate is useful to understand concepts of the method and its vocabulary. When interests is shown I hope to be able write more on the methods of science. I believe that you already have an understanding of the scientific method as a way many have found useful for gaining practical, productive knowledge and for communicating that knowledge.
You probably already have the understanding that science is well begun and carried out with studied and practiced observation. The ways of scientific observation are important to the development of knowledge. My dictionary has this to say about 'to observe:' to notice, to perceive, to watch attentively, to make a systematic or scientific observation. "Systematic." That implies that there is a system which can be learned. It seems that the way of a scientific doing is, at least, as important as the what.
Observation is the act of observing; that is, the act of noting and recording of a phenomena, doing, or happening, perhaps with instruments. Observation might lead to developing a judgement or inference. What are the methods for developing a judgement or inference!
"Identify" could be our next term to examine. If you would like me to continue some sort of exposition of science, please leave a comment to that effect in the "comment" window below.
Identifying a phenomena is, in large part, for the purpose of being able to recognize the phenomena yourself and to enable others to also recognize it. There is more to say about the recognizing/identifying part of our scientific process, but i will leave that for another time.
Oh, yes. Ytterbiumology is beyond my present knowledge, still it can be studied and known. Its a chemical element with the symbol Yb and atomic number 70. I may not live long enough to get deeply into the study of this element. Perhaps you can tell us more about it.
Thanks for reading.
RCS