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Clifford:

I would put less of an emphasis on acquiring science facts than 
understanding science process. I could argue that by understanding 
the process one could rediscover all of science-if all science 
knowledge was lost.  Something akin to teaching someone to fish 
rather than giving them the fish to eat.


Cheers,

Martin


>
>
>Jared Diamond in "Collapse"  gave a nice definition: "Science is 
>reliable knowledge about our world"
>I brought this up with Hooley McLaughlin last year when we were 
>doing the prep work for our ASTC session ""Gutless no More- What 
>exhibits science centers should be doing" and Hooley disagreed. " 
>Science is a process, it is not knowledge."  So modifying the 
>statement for Hooley's point makes it:
>Science is the acquisition of reliable knowledge about our world.
>
>But I have to disagree with Hooley and told him so then;  I think 
>that science is both the process and the knowledge.  The point of 
>science IS the knowledge, specifically the knowledge of knowing what 
>is happening now so we can guide our labors in the future.  For 
>isn't the most fundamental role of science is the improving the 
>quality of human life?   Knowing what is happening so that we have 
>the resources we need to live well cannot be a game of chance.  We 
>need reliable knowledge and the process of science gives it to us.
>For example, the science of farming is knowing what to plant in what 
>soil, when it is going to come up and how to harvest it and cook 
>it.  
>The process of figuring out that knowledge base was done a long, 
>long time ago, but we can still refer to it as a science, the 
>science of farming.
>
>The fact that we have more knowledge than ever is really something 
>to celebrate.
>The problems that we face on this planet have to do with applying 
>that knowledge to guide our endeavours.  Think global warming or the 
>depletion of oil.  We know these are happening.  The way to deal 
>with them is to choose wisely what we manufacture now.  I personally 
>cringe at every high horsepower heavy vehicle we continue to 
>produce, knowing what we know today, that our vehicles and our farm 
>machinery run out of oil within our own lifetimes, and that global 
>warming is changing the parameters of every single ecosystem we've 
>got.  We can and should apply the science we know to these problems 
>to solve them.  We still want transportation, so our society doesn't 
>collapse, so all of us in society can get to the jobs we are all 
>specialists at, so we can get our food, so we can enjoy our culture, 
>including science centers.  
>We've got to act now.  Yes, do help define science for 7 and under, 
>but also for all of us.
>
>Science is central to the quality of our lives, through the 
>application of science-based (reliable) knowledge to the actions we 
>take.
>
>Central to this particular discussion is what is the role of our 
>science centers?  If we are going to be more than just entertainment 
>centers we need to attempt such things as clearly defining science 
>and its role for all of our human society.
>
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-- 
Martin Weiss, Ph.D
Vice President, Science
New York Hall of Science
47-01 111 th Street
Corona, New York 11368
718 699 0005 x 356

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More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org.
To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
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