Nature of Science

Teaching Science

Carl Linnaeus

Swedish biologist known as the father of taxonomy; developed the modern system of classification used to name, identify, and classify living things

Principle of Uniformitarianism

the belief that physical laws, and therefore geologic processes, are constant; these processes have always occurred in the same manner at the same rate and will continue to do so

Werner Heisenberg

German physicist who developed the uncertainty principle

Nicolaus Copernicus

Polish mathematician and scientist who discovered heliocentricity, which explains that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the solar system

Models

physical, mathematical, or visual representations of scientific phenomena

Example.

a diagram of the eye

John Dalton

English chemist and physicist who developed the fixed orbital model of the atom using gas phase experiments

Continental Drift

the movement of continents due to the activity of the tectonic plates beneath them

Stratigraphy

the branch of geology that studies the formation and characteristics of rock strata

Risk Assessment

the process of identifying, evaluating, and prioritizing potential risks and uncertainties that may affect the achievement of objectives, allowing organizations to make informed decisions and implement mitigation strategies to minimize negative impacts

Heliocentricity

the accepted astronomical model that the sun is at the center of our solar system; theory was put forth by Copernicus in 1543 and expanded upon by Galileo in 1632

Marie Curie

Polish-French physicist and chemist who defined radioactivity as a property of atoms (uranium/thorium experiment) and helped discover radium and polonium; wife of Pierre Curie

Shen Kuo

Chinese mathematician and scientist who invented the magnetic compass and defined "true north" as magnetic north

Reclamation

creating new, useable land or returning land to a former use

Example.

reforestation, reclaiming submerged land

Michael Faraday

English scientist who discovered electromagnetic induction

Uncertainty Principle

a fundamental property of nature: it is impossible to exactly determine both the position and momentum of a particle at a given time

Harry Hess

American geologist who discovered seafloor spreading

Harold Urey

American chemist who discovered deuterium, a radioactive molecule of hydrogen, and collaborated on the Urey-Miller abiogenesis experiment showing a possible origin of life on Earth

Wolfgang Pauli

Austrian physicist who discovered the existence of neutrons and developed the Pauli exclusion principle

The Metric System

a standard system of measurement based on powers of 10.

Example.

meters, liters, grams

Francis Crick

English biologist who proposed that the structure of DNA is a double helix (with James Watson and Rosalind Franklin)

Conceptual Models

a representation of a system using diagrams or drawings to explain complex or abstract systems or processes

Example.

a diagram of cellular respiration

Nicolas Steno

Danish scientist who developed stratigraphy, the study of Earth's layers

Galileo Galilei

Italian mathematician and scientist who furthered Copernicus' idea of heliocentricism, discovered Jupiter's moons, and was credited with the scientific method

Daniel Bernoulli

Swiss mathematician and physicist who developed the Bernoulli Principle to explain the relationship between the speed and pressure of a fluid

Eratosthenes

Greek mathematician and geographer who founded the science of geography and accurately calculated Earth's size

Radioactivity

when an atom changes the number of protons in the nucleus and releases radiation

Theodor Schwann

German physicist and physiologist who extended cell theory to include animal cells

Stephen Jay Gould

American paleontologist who developed the evolutionary theory of punctuated equilibrium

Christiaan Huygens

Dutch mathematician and physicist who supported the wave nature of light

Physical Models

a smaller or larger replica of an object done to scale

Example.

a physical model of an atom

James Clerk Maxwell

Scottish physicist who developed the theory of electromagnetism; showed that electricity, magnetism, and light are all manifestations of the electric field

Alfred Wegener

German geologist who developed the theory of continental drift

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

Dutch microbiologist; founded the science of microscopy by describing microscopic organisms

Ernest Rutherford

New Zealand physicist who discovered that nearly all the mass of an atom is in its nucleus and contributed to the Geiger-Marsden gold foil experiments

Dmitri Ivanovsky

Russian biologist who proved the existence of an infectious agent causing disease in tobacco plants using the Chamberland filter-candle

Edwin Hubble

American astronomer who developed Hubble's Law, providing insight into the expanding universe

Mathematical Models

models that use mathematical formulas, variables, and language to refer to relationships and processes in a system

Example.

the formula for gravitational force: F=mg

Isaac Newton

English mathematician and scientist who formulated the Laws of Motion and the Law of Universal Gravitation

Alexander Fleming

Scottish physician and microbiologist who discovered the first antibiotic (penicillin)

Rosalind Franklin

British chemist who used X-ray crystallography to research the DNA molecule's density and helical shape

Pierre Curie

French physicist who helped discover radium and polonium; husband of Marie Curie

James Hutton

Swedish geologist who developed the theory of uniformitarianism, explaining that Earth is continuously being formed

Erwin Schrödinger

Austrian physicist who developed the main equation for quantum physics and proposed the electron cloud model of the atom

Niels Bohr

Danish physicist who developed the quantum model of the atom showing that only certain electron orbitals exist

Non-Renewable Resources

resources which will be depleted faster than they can be replenished

Example.

natural gas, petroleum

James Watson

American biologist who proposed that the structure of DNA is a double helix (with James Watson and Rosalind Franklin)

Renewable Resources

resources which replenish at the same (or faster) rate than the rate at which they are used

Example.

wind energy, solar energy, hydroelectric power

Max Planck

German physicist who discovered the photoelectric effect leading to the principle of quantum mechanics

Inge Lehmann

Danish seismologist and geophysicist who discovered Earth's inner core

Democritus

Greek philosopher who believed that atoms were uniform, incompressible, and indestructible; named the building blocks of matter atomos

Johannes Kepler

German astrologer and mathematician who proposed three laws of planetary motion that describe the orbits of the planets as ellipses

Biomass

renewable resource made from plant and animal matter

Robert Hooke

English scientist who developed Hooke's law for springs (elasticity) and described the expansion of matter when heated

Murray Gell-Mann

American physicist who proposed that matter is made of quarks

John Michell

English philosopher who:

• Described the cause of earthquakes

• Described earthquakes as waves

• Invented the torsion balance to measure the mass of the Earth

Louis Pasteur

French biologist, chemist, and pharmacist known as the father of germ theory; created the first vaccinations for rabies and anthrax, discovered airborne illnesses, disprove the theory of spontaneous generation using the swan neck flask

Rudolf Virchow

German physician and scientist who was the pioneer of modern pathology; proposed that diseases arose from their individual cells

J.J. Thomson

British physicist who conducted cathode-ray experiments to discover the electron and proposed the "plum pudding model of an atom"

Matthias Jakob Schleiden

Term definition.

German botanist; co-founder of cell theory (with Theodor Schwann); proposed that all structural plant parts are made of cells

Stanley Miller

American chemist who discovered that organic amino acids could be made from inorganic molecules; performed the Urey-Miller abiogenesis experiment showing a possible origin of life on Earth (with Harold Urey)

Acid Rain

rain with a lower pH than neutral

corrosive to many substances, including rocks

often caused by pollution

Example.

sulfur dioxide dissolves in the water droplets of clouds to make sulfuric acid

Aristotle

Greek philosopher; created the first taxonomy of organisms by grouping animals with similar characteristics

Dmitri Mendeleev

A chemist (1834-1907) who published the first periodic table with elements arranged by mass

Thomas Hunt Morgan

American biologist who advanced the theory of genetics by studying fruit flies

Albert Einstein

German physicist who:

• Proposed the equivalence of matter and energy based on the constant speed of light in all reference frames

• Developed the theory of general relativity stating that an object's gravity is due to the curvature of space

• Proposed the existence and size of atoms using Brownian Motion

• Explained the photoelectric effect as due to the quantization of light