I.

SCIENCE

I.

INTRODUCTION
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the
source of all true art and science. - Albert Einstein
Science is beautiful when it makes simple explanations of phenomena or
connections between different observations. Examples include the double
helix in biology and the fundamental equations of physics. - Stephen Hawking
New discoveries in science will continue to create a thousand new frontiers
for those who still would adventure. - Herbert Hoover
The universe is an amazing place. It is vaster than it is possible to
measure, stranger and more magical than any science fiction or fantasy, more
beautiful than any art, and far more complex than can ever be imagined.
Studying the universe studying science whether that is on the grandest
scales of cosmology, the smallest scales of quantum physics and subatomic
chemistry, or the beautiful complexity of life, is to set yourself on the path to
an adventure that will stay with you forever.
To succeed in this science course and, more specifically, to answer
some of the questions on the examinations and quizzes, you should be
familiar with a few of the concepts regarding science, and the things being
presented. Most textbooks do an inadequate job of this task, so this essay
provides that information. This information in its present form is not in your
textbook, so please read it carefully here, and pays close attention to the
words in boldface and the definitions in italics.

II.

DEFINITION OF SCIENCE
Science is not merely a collection of facts, concepts, and useful ideas
about nature, or even the systematic investigation of nature, although both are
common definitions of science. Science is a method of investigating nature--a
way of knowing about nature--that discovers reliable knowledge about it. In
other words, science is a method of discovering reliable knowledge about
nature. There are other methods of discovering and learning knowledge about
nature (these other knowledge methods or systems will be discussed below in
contradistinction to science), but science is the only method that results in the
acquisition of reliable knowledge.
Reliable knowledge is knowledge that has a high probability of being
true because its veracity has been justified by a reliable method. Reliable
knowledge is sometimes called justified true belief, to distinguish reliable
knowledge from belief that is false and unjustified or even true but unjustified.
Every person has knowledge or beliefs, but not all of each person's
knowledge is reliably true and justified. In fact, most individuals believe in
things that are untrue or unjustified or both: most people possess a lot of
unreliable knowledge and, what's worse, they act on that knowledge! Other
ways of knowing, and there are many in addition to science, are not reliable
because their discovered knowledge is not justified. Science is a method that
allows a person to possess, with the highest degree of certainty possible,
reliable knowledge (justified true belief) about nature. The method used to
justify scientific knowledge, and thus make it reliable, is called the scientific
method.
Summarizing what was stated above, we can simply define science as
a systematized body of knowledge that deals with specific field of
specialization.

III.

THE ARTICLE A IN THE DEFINITION

Science is a broad concept. It covers a vast of knowledge. It does not
only tackles specific idea but also other things.

IV.

SCIENTIFIC METHOD
The method used to justify scientific knowledge, and thus make it
reliable, is called the scientific method. When one uses the scientific method
to study or investigate nature or the universe, one is practicing scientific
thinking. When one uses the methods and principles of scientific thinking in
everyday life--such as when studying history or literature, investigating
societies or governments, seeking solutions to problems of economics or
philosophy, or just trying to answer personal questions about oneself or the
meaning of existence--one is said to be practicing critical thinking.
STEPS IN SOLVING A PROBLEM (SCIENTIFIC METHOD)
1. IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM
One must ask a meaningful question or identify a significant
problem, and one should be able to state the problem or question in a way
that it is conceivably possible to answer it. Any attempt to gain knowledge
must start here.
2. OBSERVING and GATHERING PERTINENT DATA
One must next gather relevant information to attempt to answer the
question or solve the problem by making observations. The first
observations could be data obtained from the library or information from
your own experience. Another source of observations could be from trial
experiments or past experiments. These observations, and all that follow,
must be empirical in nature--that is, they must be sensible, measurable,
and repeatable, so that others can make the same observations. Great
ingenuity and hard work on the part of the scientist is often necessary to
make scientific observations. Furthermore, a great deal of training is
necessary in order to learn the methods and techniques of gathering
scientific data.
3. FORMULATING HYPOTHESIS
Now one can propose a solution or answer to the problem or
question. In science, this suggested solution or answer is called a
scientific hypothesis, and this is one of the most important steps a scientist
can perform, because the proposed hypothesis must be stated in such a

way that it is testable. A scientific hypothesis is an informed, testable,

and predictive solution to a scientific problem that explains a natural
phenomenon, process, or event. In critical thinking, as in science, your
proposed answer or solution must be testable; otherwise it is essentially
useless for further investigation. Most individuals--noncritical thinkers all-stop here, and are satisfied with their first answer or solution, but this lack
of skepticism is a major roadblock to gaining reliable knowledge. While
some of these early proposed answers may be true, most will be false,
and further investigation will almost always be necessary to determine
their validity.
4. TESTING HYPOTHESIS
Next, one must test the hypothesis before it is corroborated and
given any real validity. There are two ways to do this. First, one can
conduct an experiment. This is often presented in science textbooks as
the only way to test hypotheses in science, but a little reflection will show
that many natural problems are not amenable to experimentation, such as
questions about stars, galaxies, mountain formation, solar system
formation, ancient evolutionary events, and so forth. The second way to
test a hypothesis is to make further observations. Every hypothesis has
consequences and makes certain predictions about the phenomenon or
process under investigation. Using logic and empirical evidence, one can
test the hypothesis by examining how successful the predictions are, that
is, how well the predictions and consequences agree with new data,
further insights, new patterns, and perhaps with models. The testability or
predictability of a hypothesis is its most important characteristic. Only
hypotheses involving natural processes, natural events, and natural laws
can be tested; the supernatural cannot be tested, so it lies outside of
science and its existence or nonexistence is irrelevant to science.
5. INTERPRETING EXPERIMENTAL DATA
After testing the hypothesis is to interpret the gathered experimental data.
If the hypothesis fails the test, it must be rejected and either abandoned or
modified. Most hypotheses are modified by scientists who don't like to
simply throw out an idea they think is correct and in which they have
already invested a great deal of time or effort. Nevertheless, a modified

hypothesis must be tested again. If the hypothesis passes the further

tests, it is considered to be a corroborated hypothesis, and can now be
published. A corroborated hypothesis is one that has passed its tests, i.e.,
one whose predictions have been verified. Now other scientists test the
hypothesis. If further corroborated by subsequent tests, it becomes highly
corroborated and is now considered to be reliable knowledge. Inductive
reasoning, the alternative to deductive reasoning, was used earlier to help
formulate the hypothesis. Both of these types of reasoning are therefore
used in science, and both must be used logically.
6. DRAWING CONCLUSION OR GENERALIZATION
The final step of the scientific method is to construct, support, or
cast doubt on a scientific theory. A theory in science is not a guess,
speculation, or suggestion, which is the popular definition of the word
"theory." A scientific theory is a unifying and self-consistent explanation of
fundamental natural processes or phenomena that is totally constructed of
corroborated hypotheses. A theory, therefore, is built of reliable
knowledge--built of scientific facts--and its purpose is to explain major
natural processes or phenomena
FACT vs. Hypothesis vs. Theory vs. LAW
Fact: Observations about the world around us. Example: Its bright
outside.
Hypothesis: A proposed explanation for a phenomenon made as a
starting point for further investigation. Example: Its bright outside
because the sun is probably out.
Theory: A well-substantiated explanation acquired through the
scientific method and repeatedly tested and confirmed through
observation and experimentation. Example: When the sun is out, it
tends to make it bright outside.
Law: A statement based on repeated experimental observations
that describes some phenomenon of nature. Proof that something
happens and how it happens, but not why it happens. Example:
Newtons Law of Universal Gravitation.
V.

BRANCHES OF SCIENCE (BODY OF KNOWLEDGE)

1. PURE SCIENCE - also called basic science, is the exact science of the
development of scientific theories. This research is done at times without
consideration of their application, and at other times aims to answer
phenomena and possible mechanisms proposed in applied science.

NATURAL SCIENCES - a branch of science that seeks to explain

the rules that govern the natural world by applying an empirical and
scientific method to the study of the universe. It seeks to
understand how the world and universe around us works.
a. Physical Science - studies of non-living systems, a broad
discipline concerned with natural phenomena of the earth,
atmosphere and space.
Physics - is a fundamental science that deals with
the interaction of matter and energy.
Chemistry - deals with the identification of the
substances of which matter is composed; the
investigation of their properties and the ways in
which they interact, combine, and change; and the
use of these processes to form new substances.
Earth Science - dealing with the physical
constitution of the earth and its atmosphere.
b. Life Sciences the sciences concerned with the study of
living organisms
Biology - concerned with the study of life and living
organisms, including their structure, function,
growth, evolution, distribution, identification and

taxonomy.
SOCIAL SCIENCE - branch of science concerned with society and
human behaviors. It is an academic disciplines concerned with the
study of the social life of human groups and individuals including
anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science,
psychology, social studies, and sociology.

2. APPLIED SCIENCE defined as the exact science of applying knowledge

from one or more natural scientific fields to practical problems.

FORMAL SCIENCE - areas of study that use formal systems to

generate knowledge

 Logic - refers to the science that studies the

principles of correct reasoning.
Mathematics - the abstract science of number,
quantity, and space.
Statistics is a mathematical science that deals
with the collection, tabulation or presentation,
analysis

and

interpretation

of

numerical

or

quantitative data.

MEDICAL SCIENCES studies related to medicine

II. BIOLOGY
I.

INTRODUCTION
Biology literally means "the study of life". Biology is such a broad field,
covering the minute workings of chemical machines inside our cells, to broad
scale concepts of ecosystems and global climate change. Biologists study
intimate details of the human brain, the composition of our genes, and even
the functioning of our reproductive system. Biologists recently all but
completed the deciphering of the human genome, the sequence of
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) bases that may determine much of our innate
capabilities and predispositions to certain forms of behavior and illnesses.
DNA sequences have played major roles in criminal cases (O.J. Simpson, as
well as the reversal of death penalties for many wrongfully convicted
individuals), as well as the impeachment of President Clinton (the stain at
least did not lie). We are bombarded with headlines about possible health
risks from favorite foods (Chinese, Mexican, hamburgers, etc.) as well as the
potential benefits of eating other foods such as cooked tomatoes. Infomercials
tout the benefits of metabolism-adjusting drugs for weight loss. Many
Americans are turning to herbal remedies to ease arthritis pain, improve
memory, as well as improve our moods.

II.

DEFINITION

Biology defined as the scientific study of life, is an incredibly broad and

diverse field.
III.

BRANCHES OF BIOLOGY

Anatomy is the study of the internal structures of living things.

Bacteriology is the study of bacteria.

Biochemistry is the use of chemistry in the study of living things.

Biogeography is the study of the geographical distribution of living

things.

Biological Earth Sciences are the use of earth sciences, such as

geography, in the study of living things.

Biomathematics is the application of math to the study of living

things.

Biophysics is application of physics to the study of living things.

Biological Psychology is the application of biology to the study of

the human mind.

Botany is the study of plants.

Cytology is the study of cells.

Ecology is the study of the relationships of living things to each

other and to the environment.

Embryology is the study of the formation and development of living

things from fertilization to birth as independent organisms.

Endocrinology is the study of hormones.

Entomology is the study of insects.

Genetics is the study of heredity and the lifelong development of

living things.

Histology is the study of tissues.

Helminthology is the study of worms.

Herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians.

Ichthyology is the study of fish.

Lichenology is the study of lichen.

Mammology is the study of mammals.

Microbiology is the study of microorganisms.

Mycology is the study of fungi.

Ornithology is the study of birds.

Paleontology is the study of fossils.

Pathology is the study of diseases, generally in animals.

Pharmacology is the study of the actions of chemicals on and within

living things.

Phycology is the study of algae.

Physiology is the study of the normal functions of living things.

Phytogeography is the study of the land and its plants.

Phytopathology is the study of diseases in plants.

Protozoology is the study of one-celled organisms.

Taxonomy is the study of the classification and naming of living

things.

Virology is the study of viruses.

Zoology is the study of animals.

Zoogeography is the study of the land and its animals.

IV. IMPORTANCE OF BIOLOGY

Biology implies an essential responsibility for the welfare and protection of all
living species. It studies all living beings and how organisms interact in the
biosphere. This is essential because it enables people to know the behavior and
functions of each population that interacts with individuals from other populations or
communities. Biologists discover how the specific aspects of the biosphere affect
and benefit from the behaviors of a particular population.
Biology also studies the origin of diseases and plagues, such as infections,
pathologies of animals and damage to plants and trees. Biology encompasses the
study of the functions of living beings, enhancement of useful species, factors that
cause illnesses, discovery and production of medicines and sustainable use of
natural resources. Through biotechnology, biologists find efficient ways to produce

food and other supplies for people. They investigate the processes involved in
producing various nutritional substances.
Furthermore, biologists investigate environmental factors surrounding living
beings and seek effective methods to grasp the variations of the environment that
threaten the existence of living organisms on Earth.