PHYS 1902 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Testability, Bmw 1 Series, Cosmological Principle
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1Lecture 1: The Scientific Method/Overview
of the Universe
•Read chapter 1 in the textbook
•Exercises: Do all Review and Discussion and all Conceptual Self-Test; Problems 1),
2), 3)
1.1 The Scientific Method
•cornerstone of the modern science – only ∼350 years old
•observation central to the method – emphasis on empirical studies
•built on a foundation of doubt not on faith or authority
•scientists weigh evidence to quantify the level of doubt in an idea
•From observations scientists can build a theory
•Theory
–set of ideas to provide a logical framework of explanation for observations
–makes predictions about future observations
–usually rooted on a simple principle
Theories must possess the following characteristics:
•Testability
–theories must make specific predictions that can be falsified by observation
–the strength of a theory rests in its falsifiability 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 fits all
known observations
–can never be sure that a future clever experimentalist will not find 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
–logical tightrope act
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