Feynman on "What is Science?"
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Vijay Prakash
Jan 20, 2011, 1:45:14 AM1/20/11
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Dear all, I have already shared this on facebook, thought will share here too.
Here is an article by Richard Feynman on "What is Science?" :
... What is science? Of course you all must know, if you teach it. That's common sense. What can I say? If you don't know, every teacher's edition of every textbook gives a complete discussion of the subject. There is some kind of distorted distillation and watered-down and mixed-up words of Francis Bacon from some centuries ago, *words which then were supposed to be the deep philosophy of science*. But one of the greatest experimental scientists of the time who was really doing something, William Harvey, said that what Bacon said science was, was the science that a lord-chancellor would do. He [Bacon] spoke of making observations, but omitted the vital factor of judgment about what to observe and what to pay attention to.
And so what science is, is not what the philosophers have said it is, and certainly not what the teacher editions say it is. What it is, is a problem which I set for myself after I said I would give this talk.
After some time, I was reminded of a little poem:
A centipede was happy quite, until a toad in fun
Said, "Pray, which leg comes after which?"
This raised his doubts to such a pitch
He fell distracted in the ditch
Not knowing how to run.
....
Vijay
Here is an article by Richard Feynman on "What is Science?" :
... What is science? Of course you all must know, if you teach it. That's common sense. What can I say? If you don't know, every teacher's edition of every textbook gives a complete discussion of the subject. There is some kind of distorted distillation and watered-down and mixed-up words of Francis Bacon from some centuries ago, *words which then were supposed to be the deep philosophy of science*. But one of the greatest experimental scientists of the time who was really doing something, William Harvey, said that what Bacon said science was, was the science that a lord-chancellor would do. He [Bacon] spoke of making observations, but omitted the vital factor of judgment about what to observe and what to pay attention to.
And so what science is, is not what the philosophers have said it is, and certainly not what the teacher editions say it is. What it is, is a problem which I set for myself after I said I would give this talk.
After some time, I was reminded of a little poem:
A centipede was happy quite, until a toad in fun
Said, "Pray, which leg comes after which?"
This raised his doubts to such a pitch
He fell distracted in the ditch
Not knowing how to run.
....
Vijay
gokul
Jan 20, 2011, 9:10:21 AM1/20/11
to IISc Freethinkers
:)
On Jan 20, 11:45 am, Vijay Prakash <prakash.vija...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear all, I have already shared this on facebook, thought will share here
> too.
>
> Here is an article by Richard Feynman on "What is
> Science?"<http://www.fotuva.org/feynman/what_is_science.html>:
On Jan 20, 11:45 am, Vijay Prakash <prakash.vija...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear all, I have already shared this on facebook, thought will share here
> too.
>
> Here is an article by Richard Feynman on "What is
Deepak Malani
Jan 22, 2011, 5:15:08 AM1/22/11
to iisc-fre...@googlegroups.com
His books "You're surely joking Mr Feynman" & "The Pleasure of finding things out" extend the ideas presented in this web-article.
Vijay Prakash <prakash...@gmail.com> Jan 20 12:15PM +0530 ^
Vijay Prakash <prakash...@gmail.com> Jan 20 12:15PM +0530 ^
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