Karl Popper and Falsifiability Essay -- Science Scientific Karl Popper

Karl Popper and Falsifiability Karl Popper's claim that "the criterion of the scientific status of a theory is its falsifiability" is a clearly viable statement. This is a natural extension of his idea about how scientific knowledge is increased (Edwards, 1967). In an attempt to define science from pseudo-science, Popper states that the growth of scientific knowledge begins with an "imaginative proposal of hypotheses" (Edwards, 1967). Then, the scientist must search for illustrations or situations that falsify or negate the hypothesis. Finally, after rigorous attempts have been made to find the hypothesis untrue, the scientist may tentatively accept the hypothesis as true. However, if the hypothesis is found untrue, the scientist must reject his hypothesis . Therefore, Popper has set forth not only a definition of a scientific theory, but also an environment wherein scientists can work. Popper is discriminating in his definition of an "imaginative" hypothesis. Popper intends that a hypothesis must predict a phenom enon or behavior and not just offer to explain it. Traditionally, scientists have formed hypotheses in an attempt to explain or rationalize some natural phenonmen that they have examined. That is, hypotheses are presented as justification for an observation. The two-sphere model of the universe that existed in pre-Copernican times is an excellent example of this method. The ancients needed a model with which to justify the constantly changing positions of the moon and planets. Instead of being based on subjective observations, a hypothesis should be the sole product of a scientist's imagination. Popper calls this "an irrational element" or a "creative intuition" (Williams, 1989). Sir Isaac Newton is an excellent exam... ... scientific community learns from the experience and knowledge becomes a cumulative project. Popper does a great service to the scientific community by stating and refining the obvious way science has worked for centuries. References a. Edwards, Paul, Editor-in-Chief. Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Volumes 5 and 6. (1967), pp 398-401. b. Gillespie, Charles C. Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Volumes I, X, and XI. (1975), pp 250-258, 186- 202, 401, 410. c. Klemke, E. D. , et al. Introductory Readings in the Philosophy of Science. (1988), pp 19-27. d. O'Hear, Anthony. Karl Popper. (1989), pp 96-111. e. Westfall, Richard. Never at Rest: A Biography of Isaac Newton. (1980), pp 170-181. f. Who' s Who in Science. (1967), pp 1257, 1381, 61. g, Williams, Douglas E. Truth, Hope, and Power: The Thought of Karl Popper. (1989), pp 61-73.

Ecology of Sand Dunes

There are six main physical types of dunes which rely on the position of the system in relation to the direction of the shoreline. Three of these being spits, offshore islands and nesses project towards the sea and are generally extending seawards. They are characterstic where the prevailing wind is offshore so in England would be the East Coast. The other three types which are bay dunes, hind shore dunes and machair are found found where the prevailing wind is onshore so a constantly being driven back on to the land behind the shore by the wind and are found on the west coast. Dunes are known as sub-maritime coastal habitats as they are not plagued by occasional flooding and are not very salty. Dunes can very in size greatly with the height increasing over 25 meters on some coasts and can vary greatly in width and length. Dune vegetation Dune vegetation varies according to stability, moisture content and calcium carbonate content of the sand the dune is made up of. In order for vegetation on the dunes to grow plant succession has to occur. Marram grass colonises the dune (fore dunes) and spreads its tuberous roots just under the surface of the sand, and forms an underground web that helps hold the sand in place. Though marram grass stabilizes the soil for its own survival, an inadvertent side effect is that it makes it possible for other kinds of vegetation to begin to take hold. Other plants take advantage of the increased stability of the soil surface and start to colonize areas the marram grass helped make safe Embryo dune formation Sand is blown onshore from exposed beaches at low tide. As the wind slows due to obstacles on the land being met the sand is deposited. Large amount of sand are deposited just beyond the highest water mark. This is due to the friction occurring where drift line vegetation is growing and by the accumulating sand deposits present. Eventually low sand hills build up on the shoreline and slowly move inaland. These embryo dunes become colonized by Agropyron Junceforme which can tolerate saline apray, posses' a large root system allowing more binding of the sand and rapid growth to avoid burial by the sand. The embryo dune vegetation increases sand deposition and they hills increase in size and advance further inland and develop into first fore and then yellow dunes. Fore Dunes and yellow dunes Above the driftline and embryo dunes there is often a seaward strip of low dunes with an open growth of plants still tolerant of short immersion during especially higgh tides. These fore dunes grade into main dunes further inland where Marram grass is the main colonist encouraging the growth of the dunes upwards. This grass is and efficient dune builder but does not form a layer of litter or bind the sand surface so later erosion occurs. As the colonists have made the sand more stable forther vegetation now grows such as Calystegia soldanella. This grows in the sand between the marram tussocks. Many species of plans which find a coastal niche also appear as open sand colonists. Some of these grow on mainly calcerous dunes, but the effect of varying lime content of the sand becomes more obvious as a closed vegetation develops and stabilization is accompanied by leaching. Fixed or Grey Dunes A vegetation of low growing grasses, lichens and mosses are present at this stage. Where contains less lime the characterstic species which occurs amongst the marram are red and sheeps fescue. Lichens such as Cladonia impexa also may become abundant Dune Heath and Dune Pasture The oldest and most stable parts of the non-calcerous dunes are eventually invaded by dwarf shrubs. This forms a heath which approaches which approaches that of many inland lowland areas with sandy soil. Lichen heaths also develop with species such as cladonia impexa growing in great abundance in dwarf shrubs, it is also possible for bracken to become abundant in this area and large areas of it may develop. During the early stages of closed sward formation marram may remain very abundant, but with further development of the succession it gradually thins out and eventually disappears. The development of the dwarf shrub heath is also marked by the sand surface becoming acidic and the formation of an acidic humus layer. Further development involves a thickening of the grassy swardm extension of these herbs into the moss and lichens, and the dissapearance of species such as marram grass.. Rabbits can be numerous on these undes and their grazing can produce a close cropped species rich area hardly distinguishable from that on many inland grasslands. The lime content and pH of calcerous sand dunes decrease with age, and organic

What is the value of life - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 617 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/06/10 Category Philosophy Essay Level High school Tags: Value of Life Essay Did you like this example? The everlasting question that comes up into discussion time and time again in our lifetime is â€Å"what is the value of life?† Is the value of someone’s life only determined in monetary value or emotional value? Overtime throughout the decades people try to find the proper and respectful value of one’s life and if that involves putting it into monetary value. Is it righteous to measure the value of someone’s life in monetary value or by one’s emotional creativity and connection? Lifehappens.org asserts that their Human Life Calculator â€Å"helps you assess the financial loss your family would incur if you were to die today.† I agree that it is good to get a rough estimate of how much you will be making in the future. However, your life, any human life should not value the true purpose of true purpose of their life based on a calculator. Money is just numbers, I personally hate that a piece of paper can differentiate poverty and wealth, rank classes, and social classes. People can offer so much more than just money and people sometimes forget about that. Money can buy you happiness to an extent, but I personally believe it shouldn’t. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "What is the value of life?" essay for you Create order In Chris Jone’s â€Å"Roger Ebert: The Essential Man,† Jone describes Ebert as a movie critic who lost his jaw to a tragic battle with cancer losing his capability to speak, drink, or eat on his own. Now one may think that we the end of his life, his career but Ebert clearly demonstrated that he cherished his life and was not scared of death and instead embraced it to do better things for himself and his work. Robert Ebert was absolutely an optimist as you can see through his words. He avoided talking about the struggles he had to face when losing his jaw and instead focused on the brighter side of life. Even with his lost of speaking Jones claims, â€Å"In his dreams, his voice never left him,† (Paragraph 24) which shows the audience that even though Ebert has lost his ability to speak he never lost his perspective of life. There isn’t any way money can influence the self-worth of someone’s life. I have gone and continue to go through so much hardships and heartbreaks daily that no one would ever know. I want to give up every day, but I don’t. As much as I want to just close my eyes and say this is it, I never do. Even though these thoughts are eating me up inside, I continuously have to tell myself that I am enough, smart, beautiful, intelligent, independent, strong and caring. And that with God who strengthens me, I will overcome all obstacles life throws at me. I continue to live every day, I wake up every morning, and I strive to be the best version of myself in every opportunity for my little sisters so that they don’t have to experience struggle and instead enjoy their lives to its fullest potential. My sisters are truly my will to live, my motivation to do and be better, and they are the value of my entire life. The value of life is what you make of it, you are the only one responsible for establishing life’s truest value which is whatever that is important to you. No person’s life can be bought by any amount of money. It is important to know your life worth, take a deep look at yourself and cherish what you have made of yourself and your perspective on your life. The world can never put a price tag on your life because you are uniquely priceless.