Units for Programmes in Natural Sciences, 2007/08 |
XX20171 The practice of science: how science works |
| Credits: 12 |
| Level: Intermediate |
| Academic Year |
| Assessment: CW 50%, EX 50% |
| Requisites: |
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Aims: The course aim is to familiarise the student with the nature of scientific enquiry as a collective human enterprise, and the organisation, funding, communication, and ethics of contemporary science. Areas in which there are differences of opinion and potential conflict are emphasised.
After taking the unit students should be able to:
* discuss the nature and organisation of science, making reference to such aspects as scientific communication, funding, intellectual property and professional, social and environmental responsibility; * work both as part of a team and independently to present a case; * engage fairly with matters of controversy and formulate their own opinions. Content: * The nature of science as a method of human enquiry: a brief survey of ideas on philosophy of science. * Funding and control: who decides what science should be done. * Intellectual property and the public good. * Publication of science: scientific writing, primary literature and reviews; the editorial process; peer review, good and bad; open access literature. * Professional and social responsibility: the scientist's duties to the employer, the Public Interest, environmental preservation etc. * Ethics and values: some principles and implications. * Error and deception in science. |