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What is science?
Our home planet earth, has more events occurring on it than we can imagine. These events involve, the living organisms, inanimate structures; things which we can see, those which we can’t. Events that amaze us (and those which terrify us (The very formation of our earth was another massive event. These events bring with it a large number of questions that arise out of curiosity to explain or understand the world we live in, the world around us. If you have ever wondered what’s going on. how these events take place or. why is it so, well them? You are not alone. These questions run in the minds of billions of people every second, every day. The answer to all these questions is simple and lies in one word. SCIENCE.
Now your next question is What exactly is Science??
Let us understand. Science, is an Answer. It is the knowledge we get when we ask questions So if this is you, why do all your belongings or anything that you throw up in the air, fall to the ground? the answer or science behind it is no big deal its Gravity.
You see the earth has an attraction to all objects, known as gravity & this invisible attraction is what keeps us on earth and not float away in air. The funny thing is that. Gravity was always there, since the beginning, but it was only understood and explained until not very long ago by a very inquisitive person who asked a lot of questions. He was very convinced, that an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. and that’s because. it fell on his head. That person was Sir Isaac Newton. So gravity existed even before the apple fell on newtons head, but it was understood and explained only when newton decided to ask What, How & WHY.
So you see science involves you ..well not just you, me and everything around us. But we only understand it when we follow our curiosity and ask questions. A lot of questions and try to find answers to them. But. many a times, one question can have more than one answer. So, there is often more than one theory to explain the science behind each event. It’s a lot like a maze.
At the center is the event occurring and the questions related to it and the various paths to the center are the answers to it. Based on our understanding of all events in the universe, we can classify science into three main branches: Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
Let us look at what these branches are and how they work in the making of something as simple as lime juice when you are thirsty! Now let’s look at this animation slowly and more carefully and understand where these branches come into play This is where physics gets into character. Physics is concerned with the force with which you hold the spoon and the motion involved while stirring the juice fast or slow. It is the branch of science that deals with all types of matter in and beyond the universe, their nature, their properties, and all causes and effects of manipulating them. Then comes the part where all the ingredients start getting mixed to give us lime juice. This is called Chemistry.
It deals with the reaction between two or more types of matter to form a new type of matter. For example: When hydrogen gas and oxygen are mixed together in an appropriate ratio, well get H2o which is also called WATER. Interesting!! Isn’t it? And finally, there’s Biology. Biology is concerned with how your body can extract the benefits from the juice. It is concerned with all living matter in the universe like plants, animals and micro-organisms, their life processes and their relationship not only with one another but also with the environment in which they exist. If you have been observant, you would have realized that all of these branches, though differently listed, work together in making lime juice.
The togetherness of these branches is not only in the case of simply preparing a lime juice, but also in the case of every event that we see, perform or experience in our lives. Yes, they are like friends who work in harmony. Now, whether its Physics, Chemistry or Biology let’s have a look at the two main categories of Science: One is based on asking questions about the origin of what, how and why things happen, as discussed earlier like Sir Isaac newton. This is termed as Basic science, where you find crazy scientists experimenting in the laboratory likes in the movies. The only thing is. they are not crazy. Basic science always follows a cycle: Let’s see what Basic Science is using the same example of lime juice. The first step in the cycle involves asking questions about the origin of lime juice, for
e.g.: what are the ingredients used to make lime juice, what can be used to dissolve lime juice ingredients and how much of those ingredients can be used? Could the lime juice do well to the body if consumed?
The next step involves making an assumption or a hypothesis about the origin of lime juice. For E.g.: We could use the juice of lemons to make lime juice, the lime juice may taste a lot better if we used sugar and salt. It could be that half a glass of water could be sufficient to dissolve all the ingredients. After we have made the assumptions, they need to be verified by experimenting - i.e we must try making the lime juice based on our assumptions and test to see what we assumed/ predicted is true or rather false. After performing the experiments successfully, a conclusion is made where verified facts are established i.e in this case one can say that the lime juice is made only of juice extracted from lemons, it does indeed taste good with sugar and salt, that half a glass of water is sufficient to dissolve all the ingredients and that drinking lime juice does good to the body. Basic science always follows this cycle. Fun fact: Do you know that all the facts that are there in our educational/ text books have undergone this cycle of research before it is printed???? Let’s move to the second category of Science that involves determining the various utilities of the now prepared lime juice. The answers might be Making fruit juice concentrates, marinating fish before frying, curing indigestion, reducing blemishes on skin.
This category of science is called The Applied science that simply looks at the various uses of what is already established. Simply put, Basic science is concerned with knowing something and applied science is using what you know. Applied Science depends on Basic Science and vice versa. Well so far, we have seen that science can be all fun and games. So, it’s about time we ask the most important question of all is science always this good or does it also have a not so good side to it??????? To understand that, let us look into some examples: Let’s take nuclear energy for instance:
1) It can be used to make Nuclear power which can act as a substitute for electricity and which can be much cheaper or it can be made to make nuclear bombs which can have devastating effects,
2) Technology/pollution -the cell phone- Yes, it is true that the advent of the portable phone also called the cell phone has made our lives a lot easier by allowing people over long distances to communicate more effectively and faster. But do the benefits really outweigh the risks that cell phones are likely to cause to our body like the high probability of brain tumours.
3) Genetic engineering/opposition: Though genetic engineering is concerned with trying to improve existing plants and animals in terms of obtained and derived products. It disturbs the natural ecosystem best suited for the original type of organisms.
The question here is not about science being good or bad. Because now we know science is knowledge. And knowledge is never bad per se. The real question we must ask ourselves before we utilize science should be are we using science for something good or something that will cause harm. Science has the power to both destroy and heal.
But, it only depends on how you view it and more importantly, how you use it. We do have a choice! If science is pursued with a generous and compassionate heart, it can change our world in more ways than one. The true potential of science is beyond our imagination. But then we can always start, by letting the scientist in us, ask these three fundamentals questions WHAT, HOW & WHY., Do like this session and post your comments about the best use of science.
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