Conjectures and Refutations by Sir Karl Popper :: Science Sir Karl Popper Scientists Essays

Conjectures and Refutations by Sir Karl Popper In a broad sense science is a systematic quest for knowledge. With this working definition in mind one can see that many areas of human endeavors could qualify as science. Therefore, Popper attempts to find a point of demarcation between science and psuedo-science. "Is there a criterion for the scientific character or status of theory."(1) The most widely accepted answer to this problem Popper says is induction and empirical method. At this point I find it necessary to define these two terms. One, the idea of induction as it is used in this context is the process of deriving general principles from particular facts or instances.(2) Two, the empirical method is basing an idea on observation or experiment or an idea guided by practical experience and not by theory.(3) The most notable contributor to modern thinking about these two concepts was John Stuart Mill. Mill formulated proofs that he believed to characterize empirical science in his System of Logic (1843).(4) Popper believes that these two things alone cannot differentiate between science and psuedo-science. He emphasized the hypothetico-deductive character of science.(5) Whereby scientific theories are hypothesized and statements from them can be tested. If experimentation falsifies these statements then they are refuted. However, if the statements survive experimentation then and only then can they be tentatively accepted. No theory, however well tested can be conclusively established. Popper further goes on to say that every attempt to test a theory is an attempt to falsify it. Testability is Falsifiability. At a convention of the Aristotelian Society at Oxford in 1936; Popper gave his hypothesis which was to become world famous -- "what we call scientific knowledge is hypothetical, and often not true, let alone certainly or probably true".(7) Theories are never really confirmed by experiment, they can only survive from one test to another, remaining hostage to possible disproof tomorrow. For the first part of Poppers argument I must adamantly agree. Science is a continual process through which induction and empirical method play a major part, Nonetheless, if a theory is to be scientific it must be able to be tested. It must have this component of Falsifiability! If we do not continually test ourselves and strive for reaffirmation we risk falling in to a pit of conjecture and; I would further say that any theory that cannot be falsified by either present means or by proposed means cannot be a scientific one.

Education Curriculum Essay

There is usually an existence of a gap between the objectives of a lesson and the student position and pertains the lesson intended. The teacher is duly bound to make sure that the relevant skills and knowledge contained in any lesson have appropriately been imparted into the students. The learning has to proceed in places and the cognitive skills required at each phase of learning should be clearly set down. The teacher should be in a position to convert the most important steps in the phases into a learning existing strategy. That allows the students to learn effectively the subject matter. The teacher should as well identify the requirements of each step, while taking precautions that the student should not make errors. The fundamental requirements should be presented in the foremost to allow the mastering of required skills to follow later. The current skill wise position of the student should be identified by the teacher. Guidelines in evaluation checklist The evaluation checklist has guidelines which are all important for the success curriculum instructional materials. The guidelines in the evaluation checklists are all influential towards the extent the support towards learning and towards the achievement of the required instructional objectives of learning. They include Design, procedures, clarity and efficiency. (Heinich, 2002). The content of any curriculum material should not be irrelevant. A high degree of accuracy is required to make sure the pupils minds are energy are utilized competently. The guidelines are also important in that an organized format with a logical setup of content should be achieved. The brain of the student is the most crucial resource at the moment and its utilization should be well addressed. To achieve this objective it is therefore important that the guideline in the evaluation checklist exhibits some objective which is clearly defined. This helps save time and enhances the checklist to address only the relevant and necessary objectives. The questions that need to be raised so as to achieve the right objectives are clearly put in a relevant capacity while the examples cited in the discussion have implacable meaning and they are of help to the students. The design guideline also allows that only the important part of the information is given the right emphasis and its content is not a burden to the students. The guideline is also important as to avoid impartiality when representing the objectives by coping with gender racial, religious or ethnicity biasness. This is especially significant since the learning environment is cross-cultural and each an every recipient should be comfortable with the information brought up. The guidelines are also important towards provision of currently updated and completely addressed information for the best comfort of the students. This will as well address the career fields’ needs while at the same time addressing the issues of gender and race of the participating population. The design component is also important in that it results with information from a clearly identified source that is reliable and therefore the information by itself is also reliable. Heinich, 2002). As the learners continue to acquire skills and knowledge. The guidelines should allow the students to learn. The duty of this guideline is to help p the student, achieve this as the student moves beyond the basis of leaning. Through thinking as the students learn and apply the skills simultaneously for the health of their learning activities. The cultural diversity has been earlier mentioned which is another important aspect of the design guidelines with a consistent layout. It is also with an effective design of an evaluation checklist guideline that unique learning techniques are applicable to the culturally diverse leaning atmosphere which has various categories of ability levels. The other significant importance of the design guideline is the provision of an easy assessment to teachers of the progress of the students. It also enhances a reading level that is only appropriate and specific to the target group, while also addressing only the relevant age and grade level. The other guideline is the procedure which is important in that it enhances the required interaction frequencies that make learning easier. The interactions are significantly vigorous, vibrant and active in learning the interactions out of the procedures guidelines also boosts the student’s moral for a continued learning allowing the students to master the already learnt concepts. The procedure also allows for complete and clear directions which facilitate the students to perform only the relevant tasks. Heinich, 2002). The other most important guideline of the evaluation checklist is clarity. Clarity is importance towards presenting the checklist in a clear easy to read and to understand test. The general format of the course lesson also becomes attractive to the eyes of the user the layout being easier makes learners have some relative ease to locate what they need. ( Gollnick and Chinn, 2002). All the necessary features of the content are easily navigated by the clarity guideline of checklist while the paragraphs in each section give a presentation of information clearly and accurately. There is also a consistency of clear and clean fonts. Heinich, 2002). The last and also most important guideline of the evaluation checklist is the efficiency of the guidelines By the use of efficiency, only the necessary information is included in the lessons. The efficiency guideline also allows that only the significant examples and practice items which are as numerous as possible are included in the lessons. This is very important towards helping student learn the relevant materials of the lesson (Gagiulo, 2003) A lesson of Importance The instructional materials evaluate checklist may be of crucial assistance to a teacher aiming at an a grade in such a subject such as racial assimilation. The objectives of this lesson is to assist the students identify the relative forces given to the various racial groups and a step to their immigration in the United States. Heinich, 2002). By the use of curriculum materials each resource should be used in the lesson since each carries some considerable weight towards the achievement of the overall objective. Adequacy of the Lessons in terms of the Attributes of Curricular Design: To teach the objectives already identified some instructional resources for teaching are required. The issue has raised interest in the teaching of racial discrimination in the United States. The students should be made to wholly understand the process of assimilation of minority groups overtime. To achieve these, some resources such as recent statements by the government regarding its policy in respect of national minorities would be of crucial help. Another important resource would be the historical background of all the affected citizens of that particular country. The last of the resource would probable be some website data of the number of immigrants recorded overtime in the country As regards the first resource for example, the issue of â€Å"The government presenting a report on the sorting of the minorities on its policy in respect of the national minorities† (Gollnick and Chinn, 2002). as regards the historic background, the origin and the history f every affected group can be analyzed and given. The Adequacy Of The Lessons In Terms Of The Attributes Of Curricular Design The purpose is quite clear as transmitted during the lesson presentation: This is as a result of the accurate, well organized and clearly defined design of presentation. The lesson has been supported by the necessary information required all of which has been from reliably known sources. The information has also been given with the emphasis of the most important points. (Gagiulo, 2003) The Pan balance equations are pre- Algebra is a previous lesson in the Algebra section of mathematics lesson as relates to Pan balance Equations. This is the most significant fact leading to the condition that there has been some background knowledge and information from the previous lessons. This is healthy for the student for the purpose of a good follow up and integration of the related information into the current information for a healthy learning. (Gagiulo, 2003) The lesson approaches the technique of cooperative learning some parts of inquiry and some direct instructions. Students should be made to use the previous knowledge learned in earlier lessons that are related to the current lessons for them benefit. This calls for cooperative learning whereby each students make a contribution of what is known to the students for the mutual benefits of the teacher the taught and fellow students. This is achieved through first the inquiry by the teacher to make references of the past knowledge by the students who give a direct contribution of the same as a response. ( Gollnick and Chinn, 2002). The initial ideas are used to develop more beneficial ideas. The lesson addresses a variety of learning styles and intelligence. All the possible approaches should be used for the benefit of the student. Remember that the transition between the initial steps whereby the teacher has the objectives while the student have un empty mind which should be filled by the teacher is a complex one. Styles and intelligences of all range should thus be applied to come up with the required results. Questions have been asked examples have been given illustrations of various degrees applied; direct facts from known sources cited all, aiming for some positive results. All these are resources at the disposal of the teacher and they must be used. The ultimate goal of the lesson is to make sure that students comfortably understand all the details of the lesson. It is therefore the requirement of the lesson to provide the teachers with the relevant method of assessing the level of understanding that has been affected by the project. The methods through which students answer projected questions on the lesson. The way the students answer short written questions and the way the they apply the knowledge accumulated to tackle exercise questions is a clear guide to the success of the provision by the lesson to assessment of understanding. (Gagiulo, 2003) Importance of selecting programs / lessons appropriate for students. I assessment of this issue levels of instruction development and reading, the goals of the curriculum, and the state of the student such as the disabilities must be all be considered. The importance of any program is to benefit. The recipient through the most efficient and comfortable method. No attempt should be encouraged to create further complication of the students. Therefore the instructional level for example is a good guide as to what instructions are rightful for the students. The development level of the student further guides the teacher towards the rightful resources to apply to the student. The disability status sets limits as to what practical examples should be used for the students. The reading level is a guide as to what affect the students should not be exposed to reading materials while the curricular goals should guide the teacher as to what is intended of the lesson and the final expectations. (Gagiulo, 2003) Conclusion The main aim of successful curriculum material is to achieve comprehensive learning for the overall molding of an individual in terms of skills and knowledge. This is importance for the future benefit of student the success and the teachers expect as a result of high quality of learning.

Parvovirus B19: A Different Kind of Pathogen

Blood transfusions save lives. There is no other way to put it. There is no other way to stress its importance. Without this service there would be no other way to save those who are victims of gunshot wounds, accidents that resulted in major blood loss, surgeries that require transfusion and many more medical procedures that require the availability of safe blood.As mentioned earlier blood banks have reached a level of sophistication that can assure safe blood processing, sterilisation, storage and finally transfusion. In information found in the 12th International Convocation on Immunology one can see that in the 20th century it is almost impossible to find infected blood such as those having HIV, Hepatitis B and C viruses in blood banks (C.J. van Oss, 1995).Yet, in the same convention, the delegates had to agree that there are still pathogens that could not be eliminated using conventional methods. And one of those pathogens is called Parvovirus B19, which is also known as human p arvovirus. It is therefore important to test for the presence of Parvovirus B19 in donated blood. The importance of which will be seen later as introduction of the virus to at risk patients can be fatal.Parvovirus B19According to Broliden, Tolfvenstam, & Norbeck (2006) â€Å"B19 is thought to exclusively infect humans, and shows a pronounced tropism for erythroid precursors.†Moreover, they added that with regards to infection shows a seasonal variation in temperature climates, â€Å"†¦being more common during the winter and early spring [†¦] B19 is normally transmitted through the respiratory route, but can also be transmitted vertically from the mother to the foetus, through BM and organ tranplantations, and via transfused blood products† (Broliden, Tolfvenstam, & Norbeck, 2006).A more technical description of the virus can be found in Murphy and Pamphilon’s work and the authors made the following remarks concerning the human parvovirus:The parvovirus es are one of the smallest DNA viruses that infect humans. They are very stable non-enveloped viruses that are resistant to many chemical and physical inactivation techniques. Parvovirus B19 is the only definite member of the genus erythrovirus – the virus replicates in erythroid progenitor cells (1995).In the world of Pediatrics, Katie Barnes highlights the following attributes of the virus:1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Parvovirus B19 (human parvovirus) is the causative agent for erythema infectiosum or fifth disease so named because it was the fifth disease to be described with similar rashes like measles, rubella, scarlet fever and roscola.2.  Ã‚  Ã‚      It appears commonly as an erythermatous, macular, papular rash in a patient that otherwise is a febrile and well appearing.3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Due to the ever-present nature of the virus, community outbreaks are common. Infection is possible throughout the year.4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Infection can result in transient aplastic cri sis (TAC) among children with hereditary haemolytic anaemia like sickle cell disease, spherocytosis and thalassaemia or marked immunosuppression.5.  Ã‚  Ã‚   B19 infection among pregnant women has been linked to fetal infection and subsequent pregnancy loss and spontaneous abortion.6.  Ã‚  Ã‚   B19 infection is widespread and occurs worldwide. School-aged children are most frequently affected and highest incidence can be found among children between 5 to 15 years of age (2003).In addition to the above here is another facet of the virus that informs on those who are at high risk when infected with B19:[†¦] it does interfere with red cell production in the marrow; and a recipient with a compensated haemolytic anaemia may have a very abrupt and dangerous fall in haemoglobin when exposed to this virus. An immunologically impaired recipient of the virus may be unable to eliminate the virus, and severe chronic anaemia may result (C.J. van Oss, 1995).DetectionDetecting the presenc e of B19 virus in donated blood would not be an easy task. As described earlier the human parvovirus is one of the smallest DNA viruses ever found (Murphy & Pamphilon, 1995).Peterlana et al (2006) described some of the standard assays that was used for detecting the presence of B19:1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dot Blot Hybridization – this uses cloned viral DNA and was found to be sensitive to 104 viral particles.2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nucleic Acid Amplification Technology2.1 Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCR) – more sensitive than Dot Blot Hybridization assay because it could detect 100 fg viral DNA (gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining and 10 fg viral DNA (hybridization).2.2 nested-PCR – a thousand fold improvement in sensitivity as compared to PCR2.3 real-time PCR – this is a fluorescence-based assay, which combines amplification and detection in a closed system and can produce quantitative results in a very short time. Real-time PCR has been repo rted to be more sensitive than conventional PCR.Schneider et al., (2005) do stand by the result of real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction procedure. This was carried out using a LightCycler – a Parvovirus B19 Quantification Kit from Roche Diagnostics.A similar approach was described by Koppelman and Cuypers that would soon be standard European practice, â€Å"†¦ testing with a quantitative PV-B19 NAT (nucleic acid amplification technology) assay† (2002).

Golden Ratio

Golden ratio ; The Definition of Beauty â€Å"Geometry has two great treasures: one is the Theorem of Pythagoras; the other, the division of a line into extreme and mean ratio. The first we may compare to a measure of gold; the second we may name a precious jewel. †Ã‚   Johannes Kepler, 1571-1630 The golden ratio is present in everyday Life. The golden proportion is the ratio of the shorter length to the longer length which equals the ratio of the longer length to the sum of both lengths. It can be expressed algebraicay like : This ratio has always been considered most pleasing to the eye.It was named the golden ratio by the Greeks. In the world of mathematics, the numeric value is called â€Å"phi†, named for the Greek sculptor Phidias. The Golden Ratio is also known as the golden section, golden mean or golden rectangle. The Golden Rectangle has the property that when a square is removed a smaller rectangle of the same shape remains, a smaller square can be removed an d so on, resulting in a spiral pattern. It is a unique and important shape in mathematics which also appears in nature, music, and is often used in art and architecture. Our human eye „seesâ€Å" the golden rectangle as a beautiful geometric form.Leonardo Fibonacci discovered the unusual properties of the numeric series, that’s how it was named. It is not proven that Fibonacci even noticed the connection between the Golden Ratio meaning and Phi. The Renaissance used the Golden Mean and Phi in their sculptures and paintings to achieve vast amounts balance and beauty. Throughout the centuries, artists have used the golden ratio in their own creations. An example is â€Å"post† by Picasso. The Golden Ratio also appears in the Parthenon in Athens. It was built about 440 B. C. ; it forms a perfect Golden Rectangle. Another example of the Golden Ratio is shown in Egyption Pyramids.Ancient Egyptions used the Golden Ratio to build their pyramids. The pyramids show one o f the first examples of using the golden ratio in architecture. The Golden Ratio was used to build these wonders of the world back in around 2500 B. C. In India, the Golden Mean was used in the construction of the Taj Mahal, which was completed in 1648. After writing this essay an interesting result has occurred. Now I see the examples of the Golden Ratio everywhere. It is like my eyes were opened whole time but didnt take any attention about those detais. And I'm glad because it changed.

Poetry Explication Essay

Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618) was called a â€Å"silver poet of his time because of the way he did not conform to the poet writing style of the Renaissance era. He became fairly popular with Queen Elizabeth I and was knighted in 1585. But he fell out of her good graces when he secretly married ladies without her permission. The queen locked him in the Tower of London for some time, and while he was locked up he was writing poetry. He was ultimately arrested and executed in 1618 to appease the Spanish government for some ransacking that his men did on one of their voyages through America. His works are everything from plain to somber and that is one of the main things that made him a great poet. The Nymph’s Reply  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd† by Sir Walter Raleigh has many themes and interpretations. The poem describes love and time, but the most important thing that I think it describes is â€Å"Carpe Diem† or seizing the day. The poem is a response to Christopher Marlowe’s â€Å"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love†. Marlowe’s poem describes a shepherd trying to win over the one he loves by promising her all of these earthly things, but Raleigh’s poem is the woman seemingly denying the shepherd’s advances and saying that all of the earthly things that he promised will all eventually pass away and be forgotten. The Nymph says that the only way we can be together is if youth lasted forever and their passionate love knew no time. I believe that the theme of this poem is carpe diem and the poetic elements that support that are alliteration, visual imagery, and situational irony. The first element that helps describes Carpe Diem is in the poem is alliteration. Raleigh’s use of alliteration really helps get his points across to the reader and helps the transactions be smoother. Like in the line, â€Å"These pretty pleasures might me move† (1224), Raleigh uses alliteration to almost mock the shepherd’s advances on the nymph. And also in the line, â€Å"Time drives the flocks from field to fold† (1224), Raleigh  uses alliteration to help to say that time changes everything. That is the reason why alliteration supports the theme of Carpe Diem. The only way the Nymph will accept the shepherd’s love is if they forever live in the present where they are young and passionate. The nymph does not want earthly things that will wither or sour throughout time, but rather she wants things to be eternal and stay fresh. These examples are a perfect form of Carpe Diem, and that is why alliteration helps get the main point across to the reader. The next poetic element that helps represent Carpe Diem in the poem is the imagery, more specifically the visual imagery. Raleigh uses imagery to help support Carpe Diem by showing the disadvantages of time. He shows the readers how moods change with the seasons, flowers will wither, and things grow old all through imagery. Like in the lines, â€Å"Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten† (1224-1225), Raleigh helps the reader see the flowers withering through time. He even does so well as to put images in the reader’s mind of things fading away and being forgotten. When Raleigh uses imagery to diminish time he is also using it to uplift Carpe Diem at the same time. And that is how imagery helps support the theme of Carpe Diem. The final poetic element that helps support the theme of Carpe Diem is irony. And the specific irony used in the poem is situational irony. The sense of helplessness by the shepherd is apparent throughout the poem. The shepherd has to listen to the nymph deny all the things he promised her, and tell him that the only way that they can be together forever is if they can stay young forever. This is why it is situational irony because there is nothing the shepherd can do so that he and the nymph can live young forever. The best he can give her is Carpe Diem and try to live in the now while the passion is still fresh, but ultimately they could never be together forever. This sense of situational irony is why it is a perfect example of Carpe Diem. In conclusion the poem itself really displayed strong cultural values of its time period. It showed that during the time of romanticism Carpe Diem was a big thing back then. It was a great poem with many key points and I enjoyed  reading it.

Canada and World War II

This paper studies the causes of WWII and Canadas participation in the war. This paper begins with an exploration of the various causes of WWII, focusing on the rapid increase in the strength and might of fascist leaders and on economic depression. The paper then turns to the participation of Canada in the war. It looks at Canadas motivation to participate, at Prime Minister Kings policies and at specific battles in which Canadians were involved. The paper concludes with evaluations of the consequences of participation in the war for Canada. Second World War was a horrible event, which destroyed an entire generation and robbed millions of their dreams and hopes. This primary cause of this war was the rapid rise in the power and might of fascist regimes in Italy, Russia and Germany. Along with fascist power, it was the economic conditions of various European nations that gave the likes of Hitler a chance to turn their dream of world domination into a reality. This paper studies various causes of the Second World War and shed lights on Canadas participation in this war.

Intellectual Property Law in England Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Intellectual Property Law in England - Essay Example However, it is essential to note that the legal relationships between different objects, individuals, and the state are not easily justifiable. According to Ayn Rand (1966), he states, "patents are the heart and core of property rights, and once they are destroyed, the destruction of all other property rights will follow automatically, as a brief postscript.†1 Over the years, intellectual property has continuously changed to a widespread and significant form of ownership title. There is also the introduction of ‘Post Industrial Society’ identified in Naisbitts text Megatrends.2 This scenario has caused a strain on customs and laws that have been enacted to protect intellectual property since many industries are indulging into manufacturing and manipulation of the existing goods to enable use of information, which in turn liberates the production. The presence of immensely enhanced information-handling technologies combined with the huge role information is providin g in our society there is a lot of theft or piracy of information. This leads us to the issue of Patent, Copyright, and trade secrets, which have led to numerous suits in academic, and several industries. The public has, therefore shown a lot of concern over the validity of intellectual property institutions. ... Intellectual Property Law in England Intellectual Property Rights can be defined as the rights given to a person over what is usually a unique creation of their own minds. The creator is given exclusive rights to use this creation for a given period. This law encapsulates a whole range of intangible assets, which include music, Assets, artistic work, discoveries, and even factory trade secrets. The law is there to avoid infringement of these rights by other parties for personal benefit while at the same time maintaining the competitiveness of the market. Introduction of these laws has brought about many disputes in the business world. Some of the cases that are leading in the English law that deal with copyright law include Exxon Corp. v. Exxon Insurance Consultants International Ltd..4 In this case, the court ruled that a name invented or otherwise, does not incorporate a copyright and an infringement to a trademark can only occur when the infringing party actively takes part in the market segment. Another important case is Kenrick v. Lawrence 5 In this case; the courts laid out the extent for which a work is granted copyright protection and it also indicated the point where expression converts to an idea in which case the latter is not protected, but the expression is protected. There are several other laws such as Aerotel v Telco and Macrossan's Application6 and that the English uses for reference in deciding cases that are related to intellectual property. The British Statute of Anne7 was the first statute established to regulate copyright through the courts and the government instead of being governed by private parties.