What is Geology

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What is Geology?

• Study of our planet (its processes and changes)
  in the past, present, and future.
• Vast expanses of time (billions of years) unique
  to geology
• Modern geology began 1780-1820.

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Why study Geology?

• Locate energy resources (e.g., oil gas, coal).
  Alternative energy.
• Locate ore and mineral deposits (iron, copper,
  aluminum, gypsum)
• Locate construction materials (building stone,
  sand and gravel)
• Locate fresh groundwater (50 of Americans use
  groundwater)
• Help protect people from natural disasters
  tsumani, floods (Katrina), earthquakes,
  landslides, volcanoes

3
What is Science?

• Particular way of understanding the natural,
  physical world (no supernatural phenomena)
• Connects past, present, and future
• Differs from theology and philosophy. How?

Einstein
Descartes
St. Thomas Aquinas
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Methods of Science

• Requires observations (direct and indirect) and
  physical evidence. Must obey rules
• Explanations (hypotheses) must be tested
  rigorously. Tests (experiments) confirm or
  reject hypotheses. A theory is more than a
  hunch!
• ALL scientific ideas have the potential to be
  rejected (new info may arise) non-dogmatic

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Hypotheses

• Hypotheses can be formulated before or after
  observations are made
• Accommodation occurs when hypotheses are
  constructed after observation (hypothesis fits
  the observations)
• Prediction occurs when the hypothesis is
  formulated before observationsthese observations
  then verify validity of hypothesis
• Both accommodation and prediction are acceptable
  methods of constructing hypotheses

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So, what is a good scientific hypothesis or
theory?

• Robust explanation passes scrutiny (results
  replicated by other scientists)
• Reasoning, peer review, and time cull out weak
  hypotheses
• Be careful of non- and pseudo-science. Astrology
  (horoscopes), Homeopathy, Creation Science, and
  much alternative medicine is not science.

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How to Evaluate Hypotheses

• Does it survive falsification (Popper)?
• -falsification is a rhetorical strategy, not a
  cornerstone of scientific inquiry
• A better measure of reliability for hypotheses
  (1) testability (2) review for errors (3)
  eliminating alternative hypotheses (method of
  multiple-working hypotheses)
• Interestingly, successful predictions do not
  always guarantee correctness (e.g., Ptolemys
  geocentric solar system predicted eclipses and
  position of planets)

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Characteristics of Science
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1. Conclusions of science are reliable, though
tentative

• Work in progress (new info may require change)
• Example geocentric vs. heliocentric solar
  system plate tectonics

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2. Science is not democratic

• Majority do not win! Scientific revolutions
• Example Alfred Wegeners Continental Drift
  hypothesis

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3. Science is non-dogmatic

• Nothing in the scientific enterprise or
  literature requires belief or faith (sometimes,
  scientists make assumptions).
• Scientists dont believe in an idea scientists
  are convinced by the physical evidence.
• A belief requires no justification (e.g.,
  astrology, alternative medicine, legends, aspects
  of religion)

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4. Science cannot make moral or aesthetic
decisions

• Philosophy, ethics, religion provide guidance

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5. Science is not Truth

• Science seeks to establish patterns or
  relationships (cause and effect) between
  observations does not address issues of purpose.
• Useful for prediction and postdiction

Durers Melancholy (1514)
beware of obsessions
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6. Science corrects itself

• People make mistakes science methods are not
  wrong, scientists are wrong.
• Science is not commentaries, opinion, or
  editorialsits a peer-reviewed process

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7. Science is a human endeavor

• Bias, preconceptions, pet hypotheses may hinder
  scientific investigation
• Believing is easy, and knowing is hard

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Why is science education important?

• Economic growth (50 of the U.S. economic growth
  since WWII is from science and technology)
• National security (military applications covert
  activity)
• High living standards (medicine, health care,
  social services)
• Ability to anticipate and react to natural
  disasters (e.g. Hurricane Katrina)
• Make informed decisions regarding the
  environment, political policies, and
  international issues

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Rising Above the Gathering Storm(National
Academy of Sciences, Washington DC)
The US science and technology sector is eroding
and quickly being overtaken by other nations,
especially India and China
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US Global Ranking
41 nations
TIMSS 2004 results
PISA 2004 results