WHAT IS SCIENCE

As you remember, chemistry is a branch of science. To understand this better, iet s first see what science is. Peopie observe their surroundings, other creatures and themseives to discover their nature and to find out their reiationship among themseives. When they come face - to - face with probiems, they use systematic methods to overcome them. From ancient times untii today, acquired knowiedge has been coiiected on a reguiar basis. This accumuiated knowiedge is known simpiy as science. 

Sociology Philosophy Psychology Divine Sciences Politics. .. 

Science disciplines can also be classified in different ways such as physical sciences, pure and applied sciences, social sciences, positive sciences, life sciences, etc... 

Today s generation is grateful for past and present scientific studies since their welfare has been enhanced. Chemistry, as we ve seen, is an important branch of science. It s certainly true that chemists who study the changes that occur in the structure of substances have a great contribution in the development of science and technology. The applications of scientific principles in the service of mankind is called technology. 

Although developments in industry and technology enhance the welfare of human beings, there are negative sides of scientific developments. Some gases cause air pollution, poisonous chemical wastes and their by-products cause cancer all weapons and atomic bombs threaten the balance of mankind. 

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Literate Programming. - In his 1968 publication Public Knowledge the Social Dimension of Science, John Ziman answers the question What is Science 1 by asserting that Science is Public KnowledgeHe continues20... 

Flowever, we do not want to be presumptive at where to draw the line between what is mysticism and what is science. This is for four reasons as follows ... 

But why are you hearing this from a scientist Because science embodies the values we seek to build a world governed by law. I do not mean to claim that scientists are paragons of virtue. I am only saying that science is a civilized pursuit. And what is that pursuit What is science Not the collection of facts, but the establishment, through open debate, of new principles that command wide acceptance. This may seem to be a peculiar description of science. After all, you might say, scientists do not have to formulate the laws of nature, they merely discover them. But that is a superficial view. 

What is science What does science do What does science study ... 

Dry etching is a commonly used teclmique for creating highly anisotropic, patterned surfaces. The interaction of gas phase etchants with surfaces is of fundamental interest to understanding such phenomena as undercutting and the dependence of etch rate on surface structure. Many surface science studies aim to understand these interactions at an atomic level, and the next section will explore what is known about the etching of silicon surfaces. 

I do not wish to go into further discussion of the only too well-known close interrelationship of chemistry and biology, which some these days like to call chemical biology instead of biological chemistry. The interface of chemistry and physics can be equally well called chemical physics or physical chemistry, depending on from which side one approaches the field. What is important to realize is that chemistry occupies a central role between physics and biology. Chemistry is a truly central, multifaceted science impacting in a fundamental way on other sciences, deriving as much as it contributes to them. 

Under what circumstances are shock-compression events encountered, and what is shock-compression science ... 

The discovery and development of polypropylene, the one genuinely new large tonnage thermoplastics material developed since World War II, forms part of what is arguably the most important episode in the history of polymer science. For many years it had been recognised that natural polymers were far more regular in their structure than synthetic polymers. Whilst there had been some improvement in controlling molecular architecture, the man-made materials, relative to the natural materials, were structurally crude. 

The characterisation of materials is a central necessity of modern materials science. Effectively, it signifies making precise distinctions between different specimens of what is nominally the same material. The concept covers qualitative and quantitative analysis of chemical composition and its variation between phases the examination of the spatial distribution of grains, phases and of minor constituents the crystal structures present and the extent, nature and distribution of structural imperfections (including the stereological analysis outlined in Chapter 5). 

In this chapter, I propose to take a strongly historical approach to the field, and focus on just a few of the numerous techniques of investigation and characterisation . What is not in doubt is that these techniques, and the specialised research devoted to improving them in detail, are at the heart of modern materials science. 

Cahn, R.W. (1965) What is materials science Discovery (July issue, no page numeration). Flemings, M. C. (1999) Anna. Rev. Mater. Sci. 29, 1. 

One other set of issues runs through the book like a leitmotif What is a scientific discipline How do di.sciplines emerge and differentiate Can a discipline also be Interdisciplinary Is materials science a real discipline These questions are not just an exercise in lexicography and, looking back, it is perhaps the last of these questions which gave me the impetus to embark on the book. 

Due to the complexity of macromolecular materials computer simulations become increasingly important in polymer science or, better, in what is now called soft matter physics. There are several reviews available which deal with a great variety of problems and techniques [1-7]. It is the purpose of the present introduction to give a very brief overview of the different approaches, mainly for dense systems, and a few apphcations. To do so we will confine ourselves to techniques describing polymers on a molecular level. By molecular level we mean both the microscopic and the mesoscopic level of description. In the case of the microscopic description (all)... 

Adherence to the scientific method is what defines science. The scientific method has four major elements observation, law, theory, and hypothesis. 

Mathematical models are the link between what is observed experimentally and what is thought to occur at the molecular level. In physical sciences, such as chemistry, there is a direct correspondence between the experimental observation and the molecular world (i.e., a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum directly reflects the interaction of hydrogen atoms on a molecule). In pharmacology the observations are much more indirect, leaving a much wider gap between the physical chemistry involved in drug-receptor interaction and what the cell does in response to those interactions (through the cellular veil ). Hence, models become uniquely important. 

Chemistry is an important part of what is called science. Since every phase of our daily life is affected by the fruits of scientific activity, we all should know what scientific activity is, what it can do, and how it works. The study of chemistry will help you learn these things. 

One of the virtues of philosophy of science is that it can bridge different levels in this way since it primarily seeks the big picture rather than the technical details. In fact supposedly elementary explanations often provide this big picture in a more direct manner. Of course what is also needed is to connect the elementary explanation to the technical details in the deeper theories. 

It should be clear that, as well known from the surface science literature (Chapter 2) and from the XPS studies of Lambert and coworkers with Pt/(3"-A1203 (section 5.8), the Na adatoms on the Pt surface have a strong cationic character, Nas+-5+, where 5+ is coverage dependent but can reach values up to unity. This is particularly true in presence of other coadsorbates, such as O, H20, C02 or NO, leading to formation of surface sodium oxides, hydroxides, carbonates or nitrates, which may form ordered adlattices as discussed in that section. What is important to remember is that the work function change induced by such adlayers is, regardless of the exact nature of the counter ion, dominated by the large ( 5D) dipole moment of the, predominantly cationic, Na adatom. 

In science, we look for patterns to discover nature s laws. What is the pattern common to all spontaneous changes To find a pattern, it is often best to start with very simple examples, because then the pattern is likely to be more obvious. So, let s think about two simple spontaneous changes—the cooling of a hot metal and the expansion of a gas—at a molecular level and search for their common feature. 

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