PHYS 1902 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Testability, Bmw 1 Series, Cosmological Principle
15 Feb 2016
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1 lecture 1: the scienti c method/overview of the universe: read chapter 1 in the textbook, exercises: do all review and discussion and all conceptual self-test; problems 1), Set of ideas to provide a logical framework of explanation for observations. Theories must possess the following characteristics: testability. Theories must make speci c predictions that can be falsi ed by observation. The strength of a theory rests in its falsi ability not its perceived correctness: continual testing. Necessary to constantly challenge theories with new observations experiments. Can never prove a theory correct the best we can say is that the theory ts all known observations. Can never be sure that a future clever experimentalist will not nd an observation that contradicts the theory: consistency. If new phenomena implies the need for a new theory, the new theory must retain the good predictions of the previous one. Simplicity often results in elegance complicated theory springs from simple underlying principles.
