Development of science & scientific thinking

Before going straight into the topic we have carried out an opinion toll on the use of mobile phones, tablets and similar gadgets. I also wanted to know your use of social networks. These are new communication tools and it is interesting to know that you use them on a regular basis.
Most of you (87%) use social networks, and a huge proportion does it on a regular basis during the course (63%). Almost all of you (97%) use WhatsApp! Only 3% of you has no mobile phone at all, while the majority has either a smartphone or several different similar gadgets. In over a third of you (36%) the amount of time (expressed in hours per day) that you are connected is 10-15 hours per day or more, which is quite high.

"The Marshmallow Experiment" 

The very funny video of "The Marshmallow Experiment" has served us to reflect on the current use of mobile phones and networks and the temptation of being continously distracted by them. The original Marshmallow Experiment was conducted back in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the psychologist Walter Mischel, then a professor at Stanford University. It refers to a series of studies on delayed gratification, i.e. the ability to wait to obtain something that one wants. In these studies, a preschool child was offered a choice between one small reward (for example, a marshmallow) provided immediately or two small rewards if he or she waited until the experimenter returned (after an absence of approximately 15-20 minutes). Some kids could wait, but others could not.

Most interestingly, in the follow-up studies the researchers found an unexpected correlation between the results of the marshmallow test and the success of the children many years later. Noteworthy, in the first follow-up study, performed in 1988, preschool children who had delayed gratification longer in the self-imposed delay paradigm were described by their parents as “adolescents who were significantly more competent". A second follow-up study, carried out in 1990, further showed that the ability to delay gratification also correlated with higher SAT scores (the Scholastic Aptitude Test, then the Scholastic Assessment Test, a standardized test for most college admissions in the United States).

Science Works in Specific Ways
  
The joy of science emanates from the freedom to explore and wonder. However, in order to maximize the probability of obtaining correct answers, science needs to follow specific guidelines. It is important to keep in mind certain fundamentals:

• Science relies on evidence from the natural world and this evidence is examined and interpreted through logic.
• Creative flexibility is essential to scientific thinking, however science follows a process guided by certain rules.
• Science is embedded within the culture of its times.

Instead of offering narrow solutions scientists across the different centuries have encouraged critical thinking based on intellectual rigour and open-mindedness. Scientific thinking is characterized by scepticism, objectivity, an appreciation of uncertainty and the flexibility to alter one's beliefs in the face of conclusive evidence. Within the scientific community, this appraoch stimulates open debate and ensures rigorous analysis of data and generation of hypotheses.

The Scientific Revolution

Kuhn's theory identifies three stages of the scientific revolution as follows:

1) "Pre-paradigm" stage where a new paradigm appears as the most promising theory among several equally co-existing at the time.

2) Stage of "normal science" where it progresses within the existing paradigm accumulating knowledge corresponding to the conceptual framework.

3) "Scientific crisis" where the prevailing paradigm is not able to explain some important observations and a new paradigm challenges the previous one by encompassing explanations and a broader scope of known facts.

Shneider's classification of the four evolutionary stages of a scientific discipline:

1) Introduction of a new language to adequately describe the subject matter.

2) Development of a toolbox of methods and techniques for the new discipline.

3) Generation of most of the specific body of knowledge of the new discipline via publication of original research.

4) Passing on and revision of scientific knowledge generated during the previous stages.

Andreas Vesalius (1514-64) is one of the most important figures in the history of anatomy. He was the author of De Humani Corporis Fabrica a revolutionary study of the human body famous for its detailed and beautifully drafted illustrations showing the complex formations of the muscles, nervous system, blood vessels, viscera and skeleton. As a young student, Vesalius was so fascinated by the human anatomy that he stole the body of an executed criminal from a scaffold, taking it home to study the amazing structure of the body. At that time, medical students did not have to attend dissections as they do today. Instead they were expected to learn from the teachings of the Greek physician Galen. Vesalius' work translated into a number of important changes to the study of anatomy. Also while working on his masterpiece the Fabrica, Vesalius discovered that a number of Galen's teachings were wrong. 

During the Renaissance, the focus, especially in the arts and sciences, was on representing as accurately as possible the real world. This required two things. The first was new methods for drawing and measuring. The second, relevant to this topic, was careful observation.

Standing on the Shoulder of Giants is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Oasis, released on 28 February 2000. The album's title was taken from the words made famous by Sir Isaac Newton: "If I can see further than anyone else, it is only because I am standing on the shoulders of giants". The rock star Noel Gallagher saw the quote on the side of a £2 coin while in a pub and used it to name their new album.

The following short video nicely summarizes some of the relevant turning points in history focusing in particular on the scientific revolution.

• Study the main philosophical and scientific movements (names and time period) that led to the development of science.

• Understand and remember the stages that characterize the scientific revolution according to Thomas Kuhn and Alexander Shneider.