PHS
100A: Environmental Studies
Warner
Pacific College
July
27, 2014
How
the Scientific Method influenced Western Civilization
The scientific
method has greatly influenced Western Civilization, though by Western
Civilization, it might seem as though I mean only America, or Europe and
America, so I shall be more precise:
The scientific method greatly influences most every part of the world in
which humans live. The ability to provide evidence to support understanding of
our world and share that evidence so that others may build upon the knowledge
has been critical to the success of the modern human race.
In our textbook Environment: the science behind the stores
(2013), the scientific method is defined as “a technique for testing ideas
with observations” (p. 10). The process includes observing, questioning,
creating a hypothesis, making predictions, testing the hypothesis, reviewing
the results, and then repeating the process. By systematically ordering the
process a language was created among scientists. An objective scientist could
explore the world they observed and have a framework to understand what they
were observing.
The process that
scientists used to test their hypothesis and the evidence that came from their
testing, whether it supported the hypothesis or not, could be reviewed, accepted
or rejected, and furthered by other scientists. This allowed science to
continue building our collective knowledge without starting from the
beginning. William Harris (2008),
a contributing writer for HowStuffWorks.com with a graduate degree in Science
Education, provides an illuminating example. After Antoni van Leeuwenhoek
improved the microscope with updated lens-grinding techniques, he was inspired
to look through the microscope after reading Robert Hooke’s Micrographia.
Through a decade of observation, Leeuwenhoek was able to report to the Royal
Society in London that he had discovered “little animals”, or bacteria and
protozoa. In an integral part of the scientific method, Hooke returned the
compliment and reviewed his peer Leeuwenhoek, thereby confirming his findings
on behalf of the Royal Society. The observations made by Leeuwenhoek and Hooke
were easily reproducible and inspired others to build on their discoveries.
Matthias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann observed plant and animal tissue
samples under the microscope and hypothesized that all living things are made
up of cells. (p. 5)
The scientific
method allowed any scientist, regardless of discipline, to observe a
phenomenon, hypothesize on why, test its validity, and share his or her
findings to be disproved or expanded upon. The simplicity of the process and
the importance of the results shifted our culture irrevocably and placed a
great importance on objective, reproducible results in all aspects of our
society. Donald P. Hearth, former Director of NASA Langley Research Center puts
it succinctly:
By drastically
changing our means of communication, the way we work, our housing, clothes, and
food, our methods of transportation, and, indeed even the length and quality of
life itself, science has generated changes in the moral values and basic
philosophies of mankind. Beginning with the plow, science has changed how we
live and what we believe. By making life easier, science has given man the
chance to pursue societal concerns such as ethics, aesthetics, education, and
justice; to create cultures; and to improve human conditions. But it has also
placed us in the unique position of being able to destroy ourselves. (preface)
Though the
scientific method has enabled great advancements in society, it cannot answer
all of life’s questions. Harris (2008) reminds us, “Science is also incapable
of making value judgments. It cannot say global warming is bad, for example. It
can study the causes and effects of global warming and report on those results”
(p. 11). Though it cannot answer all of our questions, and ultimately we are
still human, the value of scientific method on the human race cannot be
understated.
In spite of the
great impact the scientific method has had on all of humankind, occasionally
our humanness defies a preponderance of evidence and chooses a different path. The
scientific method has accumulated a great deal of evidence supporting the value
and importance of vaccinations. As the World Health Organization underlines the
importance of vaccines, it also underscores the importance of the scientific
method, “The benefits of vaccination extend beyond prevention of specific
diseases in individuals. They enable a rich, multifaceted harvest for societies
and nations (Andre et al., 2008)”. The scientific method
has not transformed humans into logical and objective creatures, but it has
enabled us to advance the human race by furthering our understanding of our
world and ourselves.
References
Withgott,
J., & Laposata, M. (2013). Environment: the science behind the stories (5th
Ed.). New York, NY. Pearson Benjamin Cummings.
Harris,
W. (2008). How the Scientific Method Works. HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/scientific-method.htm
Burke,
J., Bergman, J., & Asimov, I. (1985). Preface. The impact of science on
society. (pp. iii). Series of lectures
given at a public lecture series sponsored by NASA and the College of William
and Mary in 1983. Washington D.C. Retrieved from http://history.nasa.gov/sp482.pdf
Andre,
F.E., Booy, R., Bock, H.L., Clemens, J., Datta, S.K., John, T.J.,…Schmitt, H.J.
(2008). Vaccination greatly reduces disease, disability, death and inequity
worldwide. Bulletin of the World Health
Organization, 86, 2, 81-160. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/2/07-040089/en/
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