1. The Sciences

2. What are the Sciences?
 Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes
knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions
about the universe.
 In an older and closely related meaning (found, for example, in
Aristotle), "science" refers to the body of reliable knowledge
itself, of the type that can be logically and rationally explained.
 Is used in a broad sense denoting reliable knowledge about a
topic, in the same way it is still used in modern terms such as
library science or political science.
 More often refers to a way of pursuing knowledge, not only the
knowledge itself. It is often treated as
synonymous with 'natural and physical
science, and thus restricted to those
branches of study that relate to the
phenomena of the material universe
and their laws, sometimes with implied
exclusion of pure mathematics.

3. The Sciences Include…
 Natural sciences
 Space sciences
 Earth sciences
 Life sciences
 Chemistry
 Physics
 Formal sciences
 Computer sciences
 Logic
 Mathematics
 Statistics
 Systems science
 Professions and Applied sciences
 Agriculture
 Architecture and Design
 Business
 Divinity
 Education
 Engineering
 Environmental studies and Forestry
 Family and consumer science
 Health science
 Human physical performance and recreation
 Journalism, media studies and communication
 Law
 Library and museum studies
 Military sciences
 Public administration
 Social work
 Transportation

4. History of the Sciences
 "If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts;
but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in
certainties." — Francis Bacon (1605) The Advancement of
Learning, Book 1, v, 8
 A skeptical point of view, demanding a method of proof, was
the practical position taken as early as 1000 years ago.
 The scientific method seeks to explain the events of nature in
a reproducible way.
 The sciences exist to examine the phenomena of nature.

5. Writing & Inquiry in the Sciences
 In your science classes, you are likely to be asked to write one of two kinds of
papers: the lab report and the review of the literature.
 The lab report is a straight forward summary of your experiment's purpose,
methods, and results.
 The typical lab report will have:
 An introduction, which states the problem, question, hypothesis, or objective. The
introduction should state why this problem is worth investigating.
 A summary of your methods, told chronologically and precisely, so that other scientists
might replicate them.
 A summary of your results, in which you lay out for your readers the data that your
research has generated. Again, you will want to present these results clearly, thoroughly,
and precisely.
 A discussion of your results, in which you explore their significance. Even if your results
haven't provided you with the information you sought, they remain important in that they
might suggest other experiments to scientists interested in your subject.
 A review of the literature looks at what has been published on a given problem;
however, it is not simply a summary of what's been written. It is instead a paper
that tries to synthesize existing articles to form a coherent and thorough
understanding of the matter at hand. It also evaluates these articles and the
experiments upon which they are based, alerting the reader to potential
weaknesses.

6. Preferred Style of Writing
 Because the purpose of most scientific writing is to present
evidence that is verifiable, it's important to write with an
almost mathematical precision.
 Forget adjectives and adverbs: scientific writing is rooted in
nouns (natural phenomena) and verbs (their behavior).
 It is not important when writing a scientific paper to be
eloquent. It is absolutely important, however, that you be
clear.
 Finally, it is important to understand that scientific writing is
often a collaborative effort.
 More than one scientist will contribute to a lab report or journal
article.
 Accordingly, it's important to avoid any sense of individual style.
 The very consistent voice of scientific writing makes collaborative
efforts seem seamless, permitting them to read as if they were all
"of a piece."