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find it in science. This is why media interviewers who ask scientists “Are you certain
that
?” are demonstrating their ignorance of how science works.
Another problem with some media discussions of scientific issues is the common
failure to define terms accurately, so I will now discuss this problem.
...
The Importance of Defining Terms
The English philosopher Cyril Joad (1891-1953) is remembered today largely for
being a public intellectual who boasted of his habit of cheating the rail companies
by travelling without a ticket, a practice that led eventually to a court appearance and
fine. This is a pity, because he used to be famed for responding to any question with
the catchphrase “It all depends on what you mean by
”. He did this so often that
he was ridiculed for this response, but of course he was right. All our ideas about
the world are expressed in words. So it is not a semantic quibble to insist on agreed
definitions of terms that are used to discuss these ideas. This importance of defining
terms applies to all forms of human discourse, not just to science. Many terms in
common use have several different meanings, terms such as “organic”, “spiritual”,
“intelligence” and “love”, and it is not always clear what meaning is intended, so
that discussions about these subjects easily become confused.
I should now like to talk about some of the key terms used in science. When I was
at university I was taught the importance of defining terms in order to have sensible
conversations. So if I ask a student to define the term “molar” say, or “eukaryote”, or
“evolution”, I am hoping that they can rattle off a precise definition in one sentence
for each term. I used to keep a notebook in which I wrote definitions of scientific
terms and memorised them. I did not always understand these definitions when I first
wrote them down, but I did find that, as my knowledge developed, being familiar
with these definitions did help me understand what they mean.
...
Facts, Theories and Hypotheses
Figure 2.9 lists definitions of three terms used in science - facts, hypotheses and
theories. These terms are often misunderstood by nonscientists. Even scientists tend
to say “theory” when they really mean “hypothesis”.
I talked about theories in the Introduction of this topic. Let me remind you that
theories are coherent conceptual frameworks that unify and make sense of all the
available evidence in a given field. Good theories are quantitative and lead to exper-
iments that uncover previously unknown phenomena. All the branches of modern
science are founded on theories - in the end, science is theory. However Francis
Crick, the codiscoverer of the structure of DNA, cautioned that one should beware
of theories that explain all the relevant facts, because some of these facts will be
wrong - scientists make mistakes!
What about “facts”?
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