1. Compare and contrast the views of science and progress in science presented in the course texts with your own.
Thomas Kuhn's, Chalmers and Mayr presented different popular views of science and progress in science as well. Discussion about science, philosophy, evolution, and progress seem to have being been around for centuries and seem to be experiencing a healthy revival. In order to do a comparison with my own views of science and progress, first it is very important to analyze Kuhn's, Chalmers and Mayr's opinions. Thomas Kuhn is better known for being the most influential authors in the scientific community. The reason is because of his concepts on how science should progress and how it should not. A new term was also introduced to the scientific community which was "Paradigm". Kuhn concept of progress in science is when a scientific community collect facts and observations. When a scientist have all their observations, thoughts, ideas, and data recorded, that would be the perfect time to create a theory.
2.What are the differences between Kuhn's and Mayr's view, and can these differences be explained by the different sciences the two authors work in?
Mayr usually argued that there is a wide distribution of the rates of progress for revolution. Means that Darwin's theory of evolution was accepted immediately which had a revolutionary impact, while natural selection required a long period of investigation to be widely accepted. Kuhn's view of revolution states that there are long periods of normal science intervened by revolutionary advances that overrides previous thinking.
3.Is a universal scientific method necessary for either of these views of science, or do you agree with Chalmers that a universal method is not possible?
Kuhn's views to an extent distinguish science and non- science by the use of paradigm and establishes that a coherent concept is formed due to clarification of theory and scientific method. However, it also states that anomalies can be found in all paradigms. Anomalies mean that no method is perfect, fool proof or universal. Chalmers believed that methods can be changed for better and vary from science to science and no method can remain universal or unchanged. I agree with Chalmers that a universal method is not possible because science is all about possibilities of new developments or exploration. In a way the accepted methods can undergo small changes for better or there can be many other possibilities with lesser anomalies which can be explored to form scientific concepts and basis.
4.Do you think that the knowledge science synthesizes is unique and valuable, or is it equal to other forms of knowledge?
Knowledge science synthesizes is unique and valuable because it is always assured by scientific proofs and no biased interpretations. Though other forms of knowledge is also unique, they may not be accepted by all groups of people, which science is Universally accepted.
5.How do these books compare to how you view science and progress in science? How have your views changed since the beginning of this semester? Use the historical examples from previous papers to support your view.
6.Are the biological and physical sciences philosophically different, or does a universal method and/or concept of progress unite them?
The wide classification of the science subjects between the physical and the biological sciences is usually arbitrary and frequently gets blurred in this age of the interdisciplinary approach of the study. Nevertheless, in universal physical sciences normally seek to enhance our understanding concerning nature and the characteristics of the substances, the energy and all non living matter. Biological sciences usually assist us in understanding of our life forms on this planet which is a enormous subject matter that ranges from smallest to the largest creatures and trees found on our planet. Examples of the physical sciences are the chemistry, the oceanography, the geology, the physics, math, etc while examples of biological sciences are biology, botany, zoology, microbiology, genetics etc.
Yes, because the latest theories of the unity of the space, motion, time and matter the unity of the continuous and discontinuous, the principles of the conservation of motion and matter, the ideas of the inexhaustibility and infinity of matter were stated in a general form in philosophy.