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What's interesting about this is the notion that there are some sciences in which speculation is an integral part of the process. Without speculation, archaeology could not exist and paleontology would not be nearly as much fun. The lesson is, if we have the evidence we mustn't be sloppy, but if we don't have the evidence, we have no choice. We do not further science by constraining ourselves by our tools and our knowledge, but we also must be willing to change our minds when either the knowledge or tools show us something else
Keep that in mind when you clean out the grill this weekend. Someone will be carbon dating it and speculating about what you were doing at the time. :-)
Stephen Miles Uzzo, PhD.
VP, Science & Technology
New York Hall of Science
47-01 111th Street
Flushing Meadows Corona Park, NY 11368 USA
V +1.718 595.9177
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On May 26, 2012, at 9:49 AM, Martin Weiss wrote:
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/science/dogs-and-humans-speculation-and-science.html?_r=1&ref=science
>
> Scientists make a good case for speculation, in this example about the
> origins and effects of dog domestication on human evolution, in science
> when evidence is not so clear. At its best speculation can make connections
> between diverse ideas and stimulate thinking along new lines.
>
> Something to have peculating while you grill "burgers" for the long weekend.
>
> Martin
>
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> Martin Weiss, PhD
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> mweiss at nyscience.org
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