Lec 1

Principles of Bio I

Biology

study of living organisms

Science

knowledge that covers general truths or operation of general laws

scientific method

research with defined steps that include experiments and careful observations

Escherichia coli

doesn’t photosynthesize

Process of science

focuses on biology

Inductive Reasoning

From experiments, make a generalization from data

Deductive Reasoning

makes specific conclusions from generalizations

My professor in biology is interesting. My chemistry teacher in high school was interesting.

inductive reasoning

Scientists are interesting. This professor is a scientist. Therefore, this professor must be interesting

deductive reasoning

limitation of inductive

can never be fully proven, larger the sample size the more confident

limitation of deductive

can only be true if all premises set in the inductive study are true

limitation of inductive approach

observing 1000 flights from low-cost airlines. all of them experience a delay, which is in line with your theory. However you can never prove that flight 1001 will also be delayed. Still, the larger your dataset, the more reliable your conclusion

Limitation of deductive approach

all dogs have fleas, Benno is a dog → Benno has fleas