HISTORY 60

Department of History
University of California, Irvine
Instructor:    Dr. Barbara J. Becker
 

Lecture 1.  Thoughtspace and Workspace.

 
The word "science" derives from the Latin word scire, which means "to know."
  • What do we know about the natural world?
  • How do we come to know it?
  • And, when -- if ever -- can we be confident that our "knowledge" of how the world works is something more than just another "likely story"?

 
What does scientific information look like?

The Elements?
 
The Cosmos?


___________


___________

What constitutes a scientific way of organizing information about the world?
CLASSIFYING LIVING THINGS
History of Animals by Aristotle (4th c. BCE)

Things without Soul
All potential, no actuality, inanimate

__________

Things with Soul
Man
Mammals
Whales
Reptiles and Fish
Octopuses and Squids
Jointed Shellfish
Insects
Mollusks
Higher Plants
Jellyfish          Sponges
Lower Plants

System of Nature by Carolus Linnaeus (1735)

Animal Kingdom
INVERTEBRATES
One-celled animals (Protozoa)
Sponges (Porifera)
Jellyfish (Coelenterata)
Flatworms (Platyhelminthes)
Roundworms (Nemathelminthes)
Mollusks (Mollusca)
Worms (Annelida)
Starfish (Echinodermata)
Insects (Arthropoda)
VERTEBRATES
Cartilagenous fish (Elasmobranchii)
Bony Fish (Osteichthyes)
Amphibians (Amphibia)
Reptiles (Reptilia)
Birds (Aves)
Mammals (Mammalia)
__________

Plant Kingdom

Algae (Thallophytes)
Mosses (Bryophytes)
Ferns (Pteridophytes)
Seed Plants (Spermatophytes)


Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge, (????) 

   All animals are divided into:

  1. those that belong to the Emperor,
  2. embalmed ones,
  3. those that are trained,
  4. suckling pigs,
  5. mermaids,
  6. fabulous ones,
  7. stray dogs,
  8. those that are included in this classification,
  9. those that tremble as if they were mad,
  10. innumerable ones,
  11. those that are drawn with a very fine camel's hair brush,
  12. others,
  13. those that have just broken a flower vase,
  14. those that resemble flies from a distance.
 
  • Who are scientists and what do they do?
  • Why do old scientific ideas become obsolete?
  • Where do new scientific ideas come from?
  • How do scientific ideas change?
 
Traditional View of Scientific Change
old worldview + new data  =  new, improved worldview
  • process is linear
  • each improvement brings scientific understanding closer to The Truth
View of Scientific Change Introduced by Thomas Kuhn in
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

old worldview is replaced by new, different worldview

  • process is cyclical (revolutionary)
  • with each shift in paradigm, scientific understanding moves no closer to The Truth, but rather away from Ignorance
paradigm
"[A model] from which spring particular coherent traditions of scientific research."

A prevailing paradigm is a set of tacit and explicit "rules of the game" that determine:

  • What sort of activity belongs in realm of science?
  • What are the boundaries of acceptable research?
  • How are these boundaries policed?
  • What makes a question "scientific"?
  • What makes a method "scientific"?
  • What makes an answer "scientific"?
  • Who says?
normal science
"Mopping-up operations [that] engage most scientists throughout their careers."

Normal science refers to the everyday, routine puzzle-solving work done by scientists who share a common paradigm--the "norm"--and use it to:

  • make measurements,
  • articulate theory, and
  • make predictions.
anomaly
"Discovery commences with the ... recognition that nature has somehow violated the paradigm-induced expectations that govern normal science."

An anomaly is something that does not fit the norm or match expectations.  Once an anomaly is identified, the usual response is to:

  • blame the apparatus, and/or
  • set the problem aside on the assumption that further investigation will resolve the matter.
crisis
"The persistent failure of the puzzles of normal science to come out as they should."

A paradigm will enter a crisis phase if the identified anomaly (or anomalies) are perceived as too problematic.  When this occurs, faith in the prevailing paradigm is shaken.
revolution
"Those non-cumulative developmental episodes in which an older paradigm is replaced in whole or in part by an incompatible new one."

During a paradigmatic crisis, scientists are able to view their puzzle-solving work from a different perspective, launching a revolution during which: 

  • new paradigms are explored,
  • alternative paradigms compete,
  • fact-gathering appears unguided,
  • a new paradigm emerges,
  • Gestalt shift occurs as scientists accept the new paradigm,
  • scientists return to routine of "normal science", and
  • the revolution becomes invisible.

 
Go to:
  • excerpt from Plato's Timaeus; and
Weekly Readings
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Lecture Notes
1
3
5
7
9
11
13
15
17
19
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Quodlibets
--
--