Re: how do you manage? (was Re: [Fwd: The Scout Report...)

[Herschel Neumann <hneumann@DU.EDU>]

What is science?

The following statement was originally drafted by the Panel on Public
Affairs  (POPA) of the American Physical Society, in an attempt to meet the
perceived need for a very short statement that would differentiate science
from pseudoscience.  This statement has been endorsed as a proposal to other
scientific societies by the Council of the American Physical Society, and
was endorsed by the Executive Board of the American Association of Physics
Teachers at its meeting in Atlanta, 20 March 1999.

Science is the systematic enterprise of gathering knowledge about the world
and organizing and condensing that knowledge into testable laws and
theories.

The success and credibility of science is anchored in the willingness of
scientists to:

(1) expose their ideas and results to independent testing and replication by
other scientists;  this requires the complete and open exchange of data,
procedures, and materials;

(2) abandon or modify accepted conclusions when confronted with more
complete or reliable experimental evidence.

Adherence to these principles provides a mechanism for self-correction that
is the foundation of the credibility of science.

Am. J. Phys. 67 (8), 659 (August 1999)


> From: "Stephen J. Shawl" <shawl@UKANS.EDU>
> Subject: Results of Kansas evolution issue
>
> If I may be permitted a few (disjointed) editorial comments: There's a
> level at which this sort of things tells us that we, as educators, have
> failed. Perhaps a session at an AAS meeting on approaches to educating the
> general populace about the nature of science would be a good idea.
Finally,
> each of us should deal with the topic of the nature of science in a
> proactive way in our courses---especially in the introductory courses.
> Subtlety doesn't do it!