Find six internet sources or other materials that relate to the readings for this Unit and which you find particularly interesting. Provide complete citations for each of the six (as elsewhere required for this course) to include a 3-4 sentence annotation and your estimate of reliability. Alphabetize the list by the author's last names. You may use this assighment to assist you in Journal and Project, but researching topics that related to "Think About It" items and to your Project.
Think About It! Guiding Questions to consider as you read and explore the Internet
How and why are scientific discoveries made at the same time by different scientists who are not working together? Explain.
In the book The Double Helix, James Watson describes his role is this competitive scientific race. In essence, Watson wanted to earn a Nobel Prize, and he decided that the discovery of the structure of DNA was his best chance of doing so. Not all scientists are so very focused on recognition, but everyone wants credit for the work that they do. Discuss the differences, using specific examples, of doing science to become famous and doing science as one does art...because it is simply what you do.
In 1962, Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received the Nobel Prize in Science for the discovery of the structure of DNA. Notably absent from the podium was Rosalind Franklin, whose X-ray photographs contributed directly to the discovery of the double helix. Franklin did not receive a Nobel Prize for her work on this project because she had died in 1958. Why was she overlooked? Is science still a man's world? Explain.
How and why is Azande Witchcraft similar to science? What can we learn from this similarity?
If a scientific paradigm is very strong, it is almost impossible to displace. It is how that particular subdiscipline of science is DONE! Paradigm shifts in science are, therefore, rare. Examine at least two known paradigm shifts in science and how they came to be.
Animal communication through ‘silent' substrate-borne vibration signals is an ancient, wide-spread system that predates hearing even in vertebrates and has been used by insects for at least 230 million years. A conservative estimate is that as many as 150,000 species of insects use only vibrational signals in communication, and another 45,000 species use it in combination with vision, hearing, smell, etc. Vertebrate animals from mammals to fish also use vibrational signals, but we humans know very little about this communication modality. Even those who study animal communication may overlook potential evidence that vibrational signals are important in their study group. Discuss whether this lack of consideration is based on stubborn refusal to face facts, or whether people ‘see' what they expect to see, as in an optical illusion.