• Question: What is the point of science?

    Asked by izsy123 to Asif, Laura, Lena, Sean, Viv on 12 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Viv Lyons

      Viv Lyons answered on 9 Mar 2012:

      It is part of human nature to ask questions about the world around us and that is what science tries to do in a logical way. The best bit is applying it to the real world.
      I have another example of a major part of our modern lives which has been seriously effected by science, THE COMPUTERS YOU ARE CURRENTLY USING. Scientists helped design the semiconductors which form the transistors at the heart of the computer, the communication circuitry, the thin film transistors in the display, the plastic which houses the whole thing, the batteries in a laptop, the power coming from the mains and even the blue LED which tells you it all works. Computer scientists then worked out how to get the different parts to talk to each other and do what you want.
      As a side note when the monitors used to be the older huge cathode ray tubes (CRTs) they were directly based on equipment used over 100 years ago to identify the electron (http://www.experiment-resources.com/cathode-ray.html).

    • Photo: Lena Ciric

      Lena Ciric answered on 9 Mar 2012:

      There is a LOT of point to science.

      Science is defined as the systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. In other words, science involves finding out about the world around us using logical experiments and then building on that knowledge by carrying out new experiments. This knowledge can then be used to make predictions about things we don’t know about.

      Look around you – most of the objects you see will have come about as a result of science. The engines of the cars we drive, the tarmac beneath your feet, the phone in your pocket. Not to mention all the medical advances we have achieved.

      Science has enabled us to overcome many diseases, travel around the world and beyond. It has also helped us to understand the workings the world around us from the tiniest sub atomic particles, the organisms on our planet, the Earth and the universe. We still have SO much to learn though…

    • Photo: Sean Murphy

      Sean Murphy answered on 12 Mar 2012:

      Science is basically what you do when you ask the question “why?”. It has developed into a method of applying logic and reason to the questions we ask to come up with the most accurate answer. One of the most important aspect of science is that if we discover new evidence, we are able to adapt our theories to fit the new information. This is how we discovered the world was not flat, or that disease can be caused by “invisible” bacteria. If we are able to continue to apply logic and reason to the questions we face today, science will be able to solve the problems we face in the future.

    • Photo: Laura Waters

      Laura Waters answered on 12 Mar 2012:

      Really good question. As humans we want to learn more about us and the world around us which is why we need science. Why we want to learn more is hard to say!

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