Re: A. Einstein and science-fairs

[Leigh Palmer <palmer@SFU.CA>]

> > There is another class of projects that have been gaining in popularity in
> > recent years.  These are the product testing projects.
>
> what do you mean by this? I've seen projects that ask something like "which
> paper towel will absorb more" and then the kid makes a random guess at one,
> and calls it an hypothesis. I consider these non-science and pass them by
> with an irritation for the teacher who hasn't a clue what "hypothesis" is
> supposed to mean.

Sounds like a hypothesis to me. It is trivial, of course, but then
so is the whole "scientific method" business.

Newton said it best - "Hypotheses non fingo." Few would argue that
Newton didn't know how to do science.

Leigh