Is Biology really a science?
Nigel Brown
MANUEL NEVES VALENTE) wrote:
> My question is : is Biology really a science?
>
> This question arouse when i compared the methods used by Biology in
> contrast with those used by other natural sciences like Physics and even
> Chemistry.
Biology uses the scientific method. Its practitioners formulate
hypotheses, test them experimentally and then reformulate. From your
comments below, you do not seem to understand this.
> In my opinion, Biology is not a real science, in the sense
> that it doesn't abstract and generalize like Physics does.
Abstraction and generalisation are NOT science; any good text on history
or literature will abstract and generalise. If you are talking about the
creation of unitary theories, biology does have them - Darwinian evolution
is a raesonable example.
> In fact, the
> almost unexistence or knowledge of mathematics in Biology is shocking.
> This leads in my opinion to a pile of unrelated and confusing data.
> After all, to me that's what Biology looks like.
Look back at the development of statistical analysis. A quantatitive
geneticist, RA Fisher, was responsible for developing new statistical
methods which are now used in many sciences. Mathematical modelling has
always been used in biology once it moved out of its merely descriptive
phase about 150 years ago.
Modern mathematical thought is concerned (in part) with analysis of fuzzy
data. Biology provides much of their data. Data may appear confusing and
unrelated merely because we do not yet understand the interrelationships.
> I do agree that recently there have been advances in what comes to
> establish some general laws in Biology, but that's not enough.
>
> To me, Biology is a very important branch of Knowledge, but still
> striving to become a real science, for a science is only a science as
> long as it makes use of Maths.
This shows a distressing fundamental ignorance of the definition and
practice of science, and a serious lack of knowledge of the last 100 years
of biology.
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> ! Claudio Valente ! l42...@alfa.ist.utl.pt !
> ! ! !
> ! ! Physical Engeneering Student !
> ! ! Technical Institute of Portugal !
> ! ! IST, Lisbon, Portugal !
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
--
Nigel L. Brown Email: N.L....@bham.ac.uk
School of Biological Sciences Tel: (+44) 121-414-5465
The University of Birmingham Fax: (+44) 121-414-5907
Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK