• Question: What does Science mean?

    Asked by lidivampire to Damien, Rachael, Simon, Suzi, Tim on 16 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Suzi Gage

      Suzi Gage answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Hi @lidivampire
      Great question! In fact when the scientists met up online before the event, we had a big debate about this exact question!

      To me it means conducting research by coming up with a question, and investigating it in a systematic experimental way. Then using statistics to work out how likely it is that your results reflect the true answer.

      But I bet all of us will have a slightly different opinion. What do you think it means? 🙂

    • Photo: Simon Bennett

      Simon Bennett answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Hello,

      My definition of science is that it is a tool which humans use to explain and make predictions about the world around them. How it works is that someone forms a testable hypothesis based on their experience, which is then assessed using observations.

      Thanks.

    • Photo: Damien Hall

      Damien Hall answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      Literally, from Latin, ‘science’ means ‘knowledge’ – it comes from the word ‘scio’, which means ‘know’. The Latin for ‘science’ is ‘scientia’, and the Romans used it to refer to any knowledge at all, not just the kind of thing with numbers and experiments that we call ‘science’ nowadays.

      That’s what the word means in dictionaries. As for what it means to people when they use it, I think Suzi and Simon have got it about right!

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