Our world is dominated by fact-based inquiry.  At the heart of scientific discovery is the gathering of evidence from experiments; and it is the ability to repeat those experiments with the same results that helps formulate facts, which in turn allows for future experiments to happen. What science offers is an objective view of the world, unclouded by emotion or perspective or interpretation.  But what happens when scientists dispute the “facts”?  Is there room for interpretation, and if so, does that lead us down a slope of “my point of view” versus “your point of view”?

http://vimeo.com/49240100

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Readings

In preparation for this Spotlight session, please read the following excerpts:

• Carl Sagan – What Scientists Think.
  (Note: myACU login required to access reading)

Carl Sagan, from The Demon Haunted World.  Collected in Richard Dawkins, ed. The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 239-243.

• Misconceptions

William McComas. Ten myths of Science: Reexamining What We Think We Know.” Vol. 96, School Science & Mathematics, Vol. 96,  01 Jan. 1996.

Join the Conversation

If you have a question for this week’s speaker or would like to share a conclusion of your own, please post it as a comment below. We welcome off-campus voices to the public Cornerstone dialogue as long as they are respectful and contribute meaningfully to these curricular discussions. See the ACU Blogs Terms of Use or About Cornerstone for more information.

Spotlight Resources

Repeatable Failures?

Denialism: Distrusting Data

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Autumn Sutherlin is an associate professor of biochemistry.  Her research interests are in enzymes of the mevalonate pathway and the use of technology in the chemistry classroom.