Quote:
Originally Posted by
HaRoHeGiNeLu 
Ellie decided to actually raise her hand this time.
"Um, I'm kind of lost with this an astronomy... Doesn't astronomy have to do with the sky and stars... hence our telescopes?" Ellie asked this politely. Otherwise he could have taken it the wrong way. In reality, this was just more than her mind was willing to handle at this time...
Risu had to admit he was taken aback by that. His eyebrows climbed again. "Of course it does, and I admit that this is very complicated, but it's necessary when we consider the split of astronomy and astrology into two distinct branches of knowledge. I promise we will return to astronomy soon."
He grinned. "Does that sound fair? Good. Erm... where was I? Wait, another question first. Yes." He pointed at the student who had her hand raised.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
feltbeatslover22 Trixie nodded. She liked this lesson. She was able to apply her scientific knowledge throughout and was actually enjoying it. "So what we are saying is that a theory starts off with a prediction, something that we believe may be true. Our theory is either based upon this prediction or vice versa, provided we are given some evidence and support? she questioned. "And if this theory is tested, more than twice to make it completely fair and unbias, then we can call it a fact, or quite simply proved" she said making sure she had got this correct.
"Not quite. Theories contain predictions, that is certainly true, but they are not based on predictions themselves. I can give you an example of this if you want, but first I need to address something else. Something
very important - theories are
not facts. Theories can never be facts. Facts are something completely different."
Risu ran a hand through his hair. "Unfortunately, this is again complicated because of our every-day language where fact is understood to be something 'better' than theory. In science, theories rank higher than facts. Facts just, well... exist. Theories string these facts together into an explanation as to
why these facts exist. As in the example of gravity that was brought up earlier, it is a
fact that we are experiencing gravity right now because we are not currently floating in the air. However, we need a scientific theory to explain why this is. Is this distinction clear to you?" He glanced at the rest of the class. "Is it clear to everyone? It requires very precise thinking, I agree, but it's of tremendous importance in science."
He looked around. More hands had been raised.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Saz Hale Kevin was a bit lost and raised his hand and said "Sir what does science have to do with astronomy"
"Well, astronomy is one scientific discipline, of course. That's the purpose of this whole business, to show you how astronomy separated from astrology and became science."
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Originally Posted by
Harry174 "Professor this might be a stupid question, but how do you know when a Theory is incorrect?" Simon asked, he hoped the Professor wouldn't yell or throw him out of the class for not knowing.
"Good question. A theory is incorrect when it cannot describe reality," Risu said. "If, for example, experiments are run whose results the theory cannot predict, then the theory needs either needs to be reworked or abandoned completely. Or, to pick another way a theory can be shown to be incorrect, if observations pop up that contradict the theory."