Essay About Central Goal And Use Of Animals

Genetic Engineering
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Notes June 5th, 2006
What is Science?
~The description of the world in terms of natural laws as opposed to the
invocation of supernatural intervention.
~1st introduced by Aristotle (384 B.C. to 322 B.C.)
How does Science work?
~As a question about or observe a phenomenon. (formulate falsifiable or
testable hypotheses)
~Gather appropriate data (conduct experiments; make further
observations.)
~Accept/Reject hypotheses
Two Different approaches
~The Inductive Approaches
~a stepwise ascent from observation to theory
~collect as many observations as possible without presuppositions
~analyze data to isolate positive and negative features (I.e. what
is always associated with the phenomenon and what is never
present in the absence of the phenomenon.
~make generalization on the basis of evidence
~test the generalization under new conditions
~premises cannot be true and the conclusion follows from the
premises.
~the truth of the premises guarantees the truth of the conclusion
~but the conclusion cannot extend much beyond the premises &
~what if there is falsehood (recognized or not) in the premises
~The Scientific Method
~start with hypothesis
~after extensive investigation and critical evaluation by experts…
becomes a THEORY
Attributes of a Scientific Theory
~Guides scientific inquiry
~Organizes observations and data
~Provides explanations for phenomena
~Helps predict events…provides direction.
Ethics in Science
~Culture controls to some degree how science is used and conducted
~judicious use of advances and discoveries
~just because we can do something doesnt mean we should do it
~careful not to discard potentially useful discoveries.
What about the use of animals in experiments?
~substitutes for humans
NOTES FROM JUNE 6TH, 2006
Biology Through the Ages
~Animals were important to many early civilizations (Egyptians;
Mesopotamians)
~Hippocrates (460 B.C. to 375 B.C.)
~Father of Medicine
~Suggested naturalistic hypotheses for aliments
~avoided supernatural explanations
~Aristotle (384BC to 322BC)
~Animal Biology as a science
~Gaius Plinius Secondus (23AD to 79AD)
~Historia Naturalis – physical universe, geography, anthropology
biology, mineralogy, medicinal plants, the fine arts.
~books 7-19 = biology
~litature review
~St. Augustine – The Bishop of Hippo (354AD to 430AD)
~Natural Phenomena explained by theological methods.
~led to scholasticism
~unification of theology and philosophy
~central goal = proving existence of god
~dominant mode of thought through the middle ages
~Universities
~late middle ages
~wide spread by the 16th century in Europe
~University Libraries
~Royal Society of London – 1662 to present
~invitation only
~Andreas Vesalius (1514 to 1564AD)
~human anatomy
~corrected Galen (129-200AD)
~Sir Francis Bacon (1561 to 1626)
~philosophical system for investigation natural phenomena.
~importance of experimentation
~central figure in developing the scientific method.
~Anton van Leeuwennoek (1632 to 1723)
~the microscope
~animalcules = protozoa
~Robert Hooke (1635 to 1703)
~compound microscope
~discovered cells
~Carolus Linnaeus (1707 to 1778)
~attempted to arrange all known plants and animals
~systema naturae (1758)
~Kingdom
~Phylum
~Class
~Order
~Family
~Genus
~Species
~basis of taxonomy today
~Baron Cuvier (1769 to 1832)
~survived French Revolutions
~established