1 Background Reading and Vocabulary

Necessary vocabulary:

As you read through background information, define the following list of terms below.

Background Reading:

“At the heart of science is an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes—an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive they may be, and the most ruthless skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new. This is how deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense.” Carl Sagan

The origins of scientific investigations are humble, an evolutionary happenstance of traits selected through natural processes within our species; curiosity and pattern recognition. The former resides in innumerable species when hunger overtakes fear or resources become scarce forcing individuals or groups to migrate into unfamiliar environments. The latter is something more complex. An ability to recall fractions of time no longer present. When combined, these two traits cause one to observe natural phenomena with an open mind, recognize either consistent patterns or changes in continuity, and most importantly, question their origins. This simple act is the process that today we call The Scientific Method.

Human evolution proceeded during one of earth’s most unstable climatic periods; the Pleistocene. This geologic period was marked with large fluctuations between cool, dry glacial advances and hot wet interglacial retreats. Members of our taxonomic family, Hominideae, utilized their large primate brains to adapt to these natural ebbs and flows. At first, by simply observing the world stemming primarily from an omnivorous diet. For example, its thought that when early hominids were pushed out of Africa’s dry interior during glacial advances, they may have observed fellow primates like chimpanzees consuming shellfish on the coast. A food source rich in Omega3 Fatty Acids and calories. A simple observation coupled with a curious mind fills a caloric deficiency and allows one to observe another sunrise. Later hominid curiosity would produce extraordinary outcomes. Homo habilis, likely after observing and consuming meat charred during a bushfire, would develop the skill to control and manipulate this chemical reaction. Homo erectus observed the almost unimaginable power of the humble rock, something strewn over myriad landscapes, when molded into specific shapes. Our own species Homo sapien would eventually observe the growth of specific plant species and recreate ideal conditions based on careful observation, a process we now call agriculture which was repeated serendipitously by many groups across the globe. We would go on to use our evolutionary gift to conquer almost every terrestrial habitat on earth, forge religions and economic doctrines, and develop explanations for countless natural phenomena observed over millennia.

Today this powerful evolutionary combination of curiosity and pattern recognition drives our technological species forward. It has brought to light our most profound and critical answers while maintaining a dichotomy which always elucidates new, even deeper questions. Today, you will follow in the footsteps of all those curious hominids and use your evolutionary superpower of supreme pattern recognition to construct your own answers to problems you encounter throughout this chapter. Your methodology is rigid, but provides the wiggle room to prevent dogmatic thinking.

It starts, as it always has, with a simple observation. A recognition of arbitrary natural circumstances within your immediate environment. That observation leads inevitably, due to your evolutionary superpower, to a question. You begin to formulate a question; “how” does this event occur, “what” are its primary drivers, or “why” does it happen at all? From here, you have a luxury that not all previous members of your species did. You have the ability to draw on the knowledge of generations of curious observers who have come before you. Your job now is to research; to comb through endless troves of scientific discovery and probe for answers to your question. In this case, there are typically 3 options. 1. You will find precisely what you are looking for, commit that answer to memory and move on. 2. You may find something close to, but not exactly what you’re looking for. In this case you may be able to apply the same logic to a new problem and demonstrate a relationship between ideas. 3. For those deepest questions to which there is yet no answer, you must devise a novel path forward. Options 2 and 3 will afford you the opportunity to use the most powerful of scientific applications; the  hypothesis. A hypothesis is like magic, but real. You will make a prediction of something you have not yet observed based on information from your research. This is the application of pattern recognition. Using option 2 above as an example, there are other closely related phenomena that follow a similar pattern. Logical thinking holds that this closely related phenomenon should proceed in a similar fashion within natural limits.

After you have constructed your prediction, you now have to test it; a process known as experimentation. Your primary goal is to develop a procedure that others can easily replicate later without needing you to be present. This standardization is critical to the scientific process and allows for professional critique. The focus of your research is known as a variable. A variable is investigated using both a control (unaltered) and experimental group (altered). Within the experiment group there are two categories present; the independent and dependent variable. The independent variable is what you as the experimenter will manipulate in order to induce a change. How much you manipulate that variable is known as the level of treatment. The dependent variable is the observed change or inevitable result of that manipulation. Any experiment will have natural factors that, if not controlled, can alter the outcome. It is your job as astute scientists to account for, and control as many of these confounding variables as possible. Once design and ultimate completion of your experiment has taken place, you must meticulously analyze/interpret your results. Scanning through endless data points, searching for trends, connections, correlations and possible causations. Then due diligence demands you return to your previous research and compare your results to others, looking for similarities and differences.

Upon completion, there are two options for researchers. First, your data shows considerable variation from all previous sources. In this case, an error in design, collection, or analysis of data may be present. A thorough investigation must take place possibly including the replication of the experiment. If there no difference presented itself, or if repeated analysis provides the same conclusion, a researcher can publish their work. This aspect of the scientific method was enshrined by its designer Ibn Al Hatham what he stated “Thus the duty of the those who investigate the writings of scientists, if learning the truth is their goal, is to make themselves an enemy of all that they reads, and, applying their mind to the core and margins of of its content, attack it from every side.” As scientists we must welcome critique from colleagues and amateurs alike. It is through this process of checks and balances that scientific evidence is molded. This collaborative effort, examining content from every side, is the crucial endeavor and is what sets science apart from other dogmas. Today, you will engage in this process and join the greatest of your species in the pursuit for knowledge.