HEY STARFAM, I’M TRACE ASTRO-ENTHUSIAST
AND SCIENCE COMMUNICATOR.
SCIENCE IS A WAY OF THINKING, OF SOLVING PROBLEMS,
BUT IT’S NOT ALWAYS OBVIOUS HOW DIFFERENT
SCIENTISTS APPLY THIS WAY OF THINKING IN THEIR
FIELD.
TAKE ASTRONOMY, HOW DO YOU ACT OUT THE SCIENTIFIC
METHOD ON A GIANT FLOATING CLOUD OF GAS HUNDREDS
OF LIGHT-YEARS AWAY?
TO APPLY THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD TO THE STARS
WE NEED A PROBLEM OR A QUESTION -- SCIENTISTS
LOVE QUESTIONS.
IN AN EARLIER STAR GAZERS EPISODE, WE TALKED
ABOUT STAR COLORS, ASKING “WHY ARE STARS
DIFFERENT COLORS?”
WE CAN ASSUME SOME THINGS, BUT TO ANSWER THE
QUESTION, WE NEED OBSERVATIONS AND DATA.
FOR EXAMPLE, IF WE WANTED TO KNOW WHY ALL
THE RED STARS WERE RED, OR BLUE ONES WERE
BLUE WE’D LOOK A THEM THROUGH TELESCOPES
OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
THESE OBSERVATIONS WOULD SERVE TO GATHER DATA
ABOUT THE STARS LIKE THEIR COLORS, TEMPERATURES,
BRIGHTNESSES, THEIR SIZE, MASSES, AND ANYTHING
ELSE WE CAN THINK OF!
MORE DATA, MORE BETTER!
THEN WE LOOK AT ALL THE DATA WE’VE GATHERED
AND TRY AND USE THAT TO EXPLAIN THE COLORS
OF STARS.
FOR EXAMPLE, WHICH PROPERTY IS MOST CLOSELY
RELATED TO THE COLORS OF THE STARS?
IS IT TEMPERATURE?
SIZE?
DISTANCE FROM US?
FROM THE DATA AN EXPLANATION OR HYPOTHESIS
IS PUT FORTH AND ASTRONOMERS START TO DEBATE
IF THAT HYPOTHESIS FITS THE DATA.
TURNS OUT THE COLORS OF STARS ARE VERY CLOSELY
RELATED TO THEIR TEMPERATURES.
HOTTER STARS ARE BLUE AND COOLER STARS ARE
RED.
SO, THAT IS OUR “HYPOTHESIS” OR “EXPLANATION.”
NOW WE HAVE TO EXPERIMENT AND TEST OUR HYPOTHESIS.
FOR THAT WE LOOK AT THE STARS SOME MORE, AND
TRY AND FIND DATA THAT PROVIDE EVIDENCE IN
FAVOR OR AGAINST OUR HYPOTHESIS.
THAT’S RIGHT WE WANT TO KNOW IF WE’RE
WRONG.
IN THIS CASE, OUR HYPOTHESIS HAS PROVEN TO
BE CORRECT.
BUT SOMETIMES SCIENTISTS ARE WRONG.
WHEN THAT HAPPENS WE GO BACK AND TRY AGAIN.
WE MODIFY OUR HYPOTHESIS OR EXPLANATION AND
GATHER MORE DATA AND OBSERVATIONS TO PROVIDE
EVIDENCE IN FAVOR OR AGAINST THAT HYPOTHESIS.
IN THIS WAY, THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS SELF-CORRECTING!
THROUGHOUT HISTORY WE KNOW THAT THIS PROCESS
CAN TAKE MONTHS, YEARS, DECADES OR CENTURIES,
BUT EVENTUALLY, WITH LOTS OF HYPOTHESES, AND
DATA, WE COME TO THE FACTS.
THAT SAID, IT’S ALL BASED ON ONE BIG ASSUMPTION
-- THAT THE SAME NATURAL LAWS AND PROCESSES
THAT OPERATE IN OUR PRESENT-DAY SCIENTIFIC
OBSERVATIONS HAVE ALWAYS OPERATED IN THE WHOLE
UNIVERSE, EVERYWHERE, OVER ALL TIME.
IF, SAY, THE LAWS OF PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY, OR
GEOLOGY HAD CHANGED OVER THE LAST MILLION
YEARS, WE MIGHT BE IN TROUBLE.
WITHOUT THIS ASSUMPTION, WE CANNOT RELIABLY
BE PRACTITIONERS OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
AND HOPE TO UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE NATURAL
WORLD USING SCIENCE.
MY SEVENTH GRADE TEACHER HAD A MNEMONIC FOR
THIS SHEOC -- STATE THE PROBLEM, HYPOTHESIS,
EXPERIMENT, OBSERVATION, CONCLUSION.
RINSE, COLLECT AND REPEAT.
THAT’S SCIENCE.
THANKS FOR WATCHING, I’M TRACE, KEEP LOOKIN’
UP.
