Some things we missed last time

• I'm not sure I emphasized this but
  • In my opinion, wikipedia or any other compilation of knowledge not a creditable source for research.
  • It is, however, a reasonable starting point for basic investigation of a subject.
  • As long as you are a critical reader.
• Authority
  • I really like the Nature article The rise and fall of scientific authority - and how to bring it back.
  • It is very short and you should read it.
  • It discusses how the early church and state established scientific facts.
    • Galileo was sentenced to prison for believing that the sun is the center of the galaxy, not the earth.
    • By the church
  • During the renaissance and later we establish scientific facts by
    • Publication
    • Peer review
    • reproducible experiments
  • The article discusses how we have started to revert to the first form of authority
    • Because of the nature of science hypothesis->theory->accepted fact there is some debate about what a fact is.
  • And what we might do to combat this.
• Side note: how are mathematical facts established
  • Mathematical proof.
  • Show a set of assumptions logically lead to a conclusion.
• Take a look at Day and Gastel's Introduction.
• Look at Booth 1.1