Fields of science

Science is broadly subdivided into the categories of natural sciences and the social sciences. There are also related disciplines that are grouped into interdisciplinary and applied sciences, such as engineering and health science. Within these categories are specialized scientific fields that can include elements of other scientific disciplines but often possess their own terminology and body of expertise.

The status of social sciences as an empirical science has been a matter of debate in the 20th century. Discussion and debate abound in this topic with some fields like the social and behavioural sciences accused by critics of being unscientific. In fact, many groups of people from academicians like Nobel Prize physicist Percy W. Bridgman, or Dick Richardson, Ph.D.—Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin, to politicians like U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and other co-sponsors, oppose giving their support or agreeing with the use of the label "science" in some fields of study and knowledge they consider non-scientific or scientifically irrelevant compared with other fields.

Scientific institutions

Learned societies for the communication and promotion of scientific thought and experimentation have existed since the Renaissance period. The oldest surviving institution is the Accademia dei Lincei in Italy. National Academy of Sciences are distinguished institutions that exist in a number of countries, beginning with the British Royal Society in 1660 and the French Académie des Sciences in 1666.

International scientific organizations, such as the International Council for Science, have since been formed to promote cooperation between the scientific communities of different nations. More recently, influential government agencies have been created to support scientific research, including the National Science Foundation in the U.S.

Other prominent organizations include:

• In Australia, CSIRO

• In France, Centre national de la recherche scientifique

• In Germany, Max Planck Society and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

• In Spain, CSIC

• 84 Science

• 1 Basic vocabulary

• Translate these nouns into your own language:

• 1. scientist ...... 7. discovery ....

• 2. experiment...... 8. observation ....

• 3. research ...... 9. results ....

• 4. test ...... 10. statistics ....

• 5. theory ...... 11. sample ....

• 6. conclusion...... 12. evidence ....

• 2 Collocations

• Delete the verb which does not collocate well in the following groups:

• 1. do, carry out, take, perform an experiment

• 2. do, make, carry out, conduct research

• 3. do, carry out, conduct, put some tests

• Now delete one noun from each line which does not make a strong collocation with the verb:

• 4. analyse information, results, statistics, somebody's eyes, a blood sample

• 5. test nuclear weapons, a new engine, drugs on animals, somebody's eyes, the evidence

• 6. examine the results, drugs on animals, a blood sample, somebody's eyes, the research

• 7. develop an idea, a theory, a conclusion, a new engine, a new drug

• 3 The scientific method

• Use these words to complete the text:

• recorded discarded

• performed controlled

• accepted formulated

• replicated modified

• ignored tested

• Advances in scientific knowledge depend on all scientists following a strict procedure.

• Firstly, a theory is (1)........in such a

• way that it can be empirically (2)........

• Experiments are (3)........under

• carefully (4)........conditions which can

• be (5)........by other scientists.

• The results must be precisely observed and

• accurately (6).........

• If the results contradict the theory in any

• way, the theory must be (7)........or

• at least (8)........to take account of the

• results.

• In no circumstances can the results be

• (9).........Experimental evidence may

• support a theory but many advances are made when observations disprove current theory. In science, something is a fact or a law if it conforms to all the results we have at any time, but history shows us that what

• is (10)........as fact or as a law in one

• generation may not be so by the next.

• 4 Scientific fields

• Complete the table below. You may need a dictionary to discover the name of the people.

• botany physics astronomy chemistry zoology genetics biology

  SUBJECT

  THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF: fundamental forces, light, heat etc how elements combine and react space, stars, planets etc living things the habits and classification of animals plants inherited characteristics

  SCIENTIST

• 5 Causes and links

• Use these words and phrases to complete the patterns below:

• what causes the cause a cure a link why a way

• find ...... for AIDS

• find ...... of death

• discover...... of reducing heart disease

• discover...... between smoking and

• heart disease

• find out ...... malaria is spreading

• discover...... the plane crashed

• find out ...... infertility

• discover...... a plant species to die out

• 6 How people feel about science

• Are the following statements for (F) or against (A) experiments in genetic engineering?

• 1. think it's all wrong. 2.I can't see anything wrong with it. 3.I don't see why we shouldn't do it. 4.I can't see any harm in it.

• 5. We could upset the balance of nature.

• 6. It's totally unethical.

• 7. The advantages outweigh the dangers.

• 8. We shouldn't interfere with nature.

• 7 Science and society

• Use these words to complete the texts:

• microsurgery test-tube baby

• lasers clone

• robots breed

• 1. Scientists can grow crops that are not affected

• by disease and........animals that

• produce more meat. They can........

• plants and animals, by taking a cell and developing it artificially.

• 2. Since the first........was born in 1978,

• modern science has helped thousands of couples who could not have children naturally to become parents.

• 3. Using the latest............doctors can

• perform operations on parts of the body too small to see with the human eye. In the future patients will not have to worry about operations leaving scars as they will be performed with.........

• 4. Life in the twenty-first century will be much easier for most people. More and more dangerous jobs will be done by.........

• Now match each of the following headings with one of the texts above:

• genetic engineering medical science

• automation fertility treatment