GST 2420: Atoms and Stars
Fall 2002, Section 983

Essay 1 Topic:
We have studied the process by which Aristotle's view that nature abhors a vacuum was replaced by the sea of air hypothesis. Following Copi's seven step account of the scientific method, explain how this transition took place. Draw on material from the reading, class discussion, and the laboratory experiments. Also write about what this tells us about the scientific method. Your essay should be 2 - 3 pages, double-spaced if typed, or about 500 - 750 words if handwritten.

Questions for the Midterm:

1. What is meant by the statement, "We are all Scientists." Is this claim supported by the cases we have examined. Why or why not?
2. How do the Sherlock Holmes references in the readings demonstrate the essential steps shared by detectives and scientists?
3. What is the difference between deduction and induction? Describe an example of each. How does each figure in scientific reasoning?
4. As you know, we do not have to lift a liquid to drink it; we can drink it with a straw. What makes this possible? Provide both an Aristotelian and a Troicellian explanation. How do we know which explanation is correct?
5. What is a barometer? What is the principle behind its construction? Would it be useful on the moon? Explain.
6. Describe two early experiments which supported Torricelli's hypothesis of atmospheric pressure. Explain how the outcome of these experiments could be predicted from his hypothesis.
7. Why a scuba tanks made of steel or a thick layer of aluminum instead of a thin layer? Discuss the physical context in which they are normally used and how each tank would read as you went deeper into the water. Compare this with our relationship with the atmosphere.
8. Why can Thales' claim that everything is made of water be seen as a start of a modern scientific approach? What kind of assumption about nature did Thales make? How have later scientists built upon that assumption? Briefly describe this research program and where it has led.
9. Show through a step-by-step process that the angles X and Y are equal (figure to be provided). Provide the justification for each step.
10. Compare the contributions of Aristotle and Archimedes to modern science. How did their approaches or methods differ? How does each compare with modern approaches to science?
11. How does Robert Boyle's development of his law relating the pressure and volume of a gas (i.e. Boyle's law with temperature and mass held constant) illustrate the existence of mathematical regularities in nature?
12. Neither Galileo's nor Descartes' observations and experiments with light decided the question of whether light has a finite or infinite speed. What did they decide? How did Ole Roemer's observations of the moons of Jupiter allow him to decide the question of the speed of light? How closely does his conclusion differ from the modern one? What accounts for the difference?
13. Describe Aristotle's general picture of the structure and functioning of the universe including the major features which distinguish between the celestial and terrestrial regions.
14. What is a planet? What is a star? What is a satellite? Distinguish any differences in the use of these terms for an Aristotelian and a Copernican. Give one example for each system (i.e. geocentric Vs heliocentric). Observationally, how could you tell the difference between a planet and a star?
15. Why does the sun rise and set? Explain this observation from the perspective of both a geocentric and heliocentric astronomical system. If the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, what can we learn from that?
16. We have used the statement, "Nature is the final arbiter in the natural sciences." What does this mean? Discuss. Give one example from the course so far.