Studied by 1 person
William of Ockham
________ was a monk who wrote ideas about theology and about thinking.
Geoscientists
________ investigate Earth and how its systems work.
Karl Popper
________ introduced the idea that scientific ideas had to be falsifiable.
Uniformitarianism
________ is the idea that the processes that are happening on earth are the same ones that happened in the past, and they will continue into the future.
hypothesis
A(n) ________ is an idea about how or why something happens, but it is only scientific if it can be testable.
James Hutton
________ was known as the father of modern geology and was the first person to define how geologists think about rocks and time.
concept
It is the ________ that puts the "prediction "and the "experiment "into the scientific method.
Earth science
________ is all about figuring out the past, how it changed throughout time, understanding where it is now, and what may happen in the future.
Principle of parsimony
________: When you have two hypotheses, both of which describe the data, the best one is the one with the fewest assumptions.
Feedback loop
________ is a threshold concept that is the idea that when you start to make a change that change causes a chain reaction and that circles back to the initial position.
Scientific way
The ________ of thinking organizes ideas and data to produce theories about how the natural world works.
Uniformitarianism
________ was created by James Hutton.
Earth science
________ is all about change over time.
1st thing a geologist does when walking up to an outcrop is to start thinking about
Whats important to look at
Geologists understand that the Earth is very old and that processes take a very long time
it alters the perception of the human place in the world
Expect low-frequency, high-impact events
asteroid impact, ice ages, massive floods, large volcanic eruptions
The four processes of the scientific theory:
observation, theory, prediction, evidence
Science starts by
observing something and asking why it works that way
The Scientific way of thinking organizes
ideas and data to produce theories about how the natural world works
Alfred Wegener was
an early geologist that proposed the idea of continental drift
Alfred Wegner Key Point 1
In science, you have to look at all the data
Alfred Wegner Key Point 2
The idea about how the world works comes out of the data, not vice versa
Alfred Wegner Key Point 3
As more studies are done and more data gathered, the ideas about how something works might change
Ockham's Razor Principle of parsimony:
When you have two hypotheses, both of which describe the data, the best one is the one with the fewest assumptions
Falsification was the concept that
puts the “prediction” and the “experiment” into the scientific method
falsification
For any scientific hypothesis, you come up with there has to be a way to prove it wrong in order for it to be recognized as a scientific theory
Other ways of knowing:
Intuition, Faith, Senses, Gut feeling
Why is time a hurdle for experimentation in geoscience
Geological processes happen very slowly so it is not possible to experiment with some things
1st rule of Geological reasoning
Uniformitarianism
Uniformitarianism was created by
James Hutton
Geologists’ reasoning is different because of
the vastness of geological time
Geologists’ reasoning is different because experiments
over those long time frames are hard to run
Geologists’ reasoning is different because data
is missing
Geologists’ reasoning is different because storytelling is
part of the geologic understanding
Geologists’ reasoning is different because many concepts
that deal with geologic principles and processes are NOT linear
Geologic thinking is
interpretive
The first thing a geologist does when walking up to an outcrop is start to think about:
What is important to look at? What is important to ignore? What is the geologic story of this region?
Perceptions are shaped by
conceptions
Interpreting requires
circling small scale to large to small again
Geological thinking is
historical
Geologists tell a story that
gives context and meaning to their research
Geoscientists’ Unique Skill Set 1
Taking a long view of time (Thinking about time)
Geoscientists’ Unique Skill Set 2
Interpreting based on a systems approach (Understanding complexities)
Geoscientists’ Unique Skill Set 3
Translating field observations into inscribed data (learning in the field)
Geoscientists’ Unique Skill Set 4
Visualizing 3D data in 2 dimensions (spatial thinking)
Thinking about time has Geologists understand that
the Earth is very old and that processes take a very long time: this alters perceptions of humans’ place in the world
Thinking about time helps geologists Expect low-frequency, high-impact events that
happen quickly and end quickly
Thinking about time helps geologists Expect low-frequency, high-impact events, ex:
asteroid impact, ice ages, massive floods, large volcanic eruption
Thinking about time helps geologists Expect low-frequency, high-impact events that can
change the landscape and climate and have very large impacts on Earth
Thinking about time helps geologists
Understand slow change is responsible for most of this version of Earth
Thinking about time may
bring unique insight into environmental issues
Understanding Complexities helps geologists
pay attention to how processes are active and interact
Understanding complexities helps geologists understand
The Earth system contains complex feedback loops
Learning in the field let geologists understand that
Observations play a central role in geologic studies
Leraning in the field helps geologists develop
Professional Vision- Seeing what is important
Learning in the field helps geologists to learn
The ability to translate observations into inscriptions that other geoscientists can read is vital
Spatial Thinking includes thinking
Expansively: envision across wide areas and realize that they were once connected
Spatial thinking includes using
X-ray eyes: envision below the surface
spatial thinking requires geologists to do
3-dimensional thinking: see 2D but envision 3D and vice versa
Spatial thinking skills
require natural ability, learned ability, and specialized tools
Spatial thinking is
thinking that finds meaning in the shape, size, orientation, location, direction or trajectory, of objects, processes or phenomena, or the relative positions in space of multiple objects, processes or phenomena.
