Poll: Is Biology A Science?
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Forensic entomologist?similar.squirrel said:Tell me, what kind of career could I expect to get with an entomology degree? I love insects, and I really don't want to end up designing pesticides for big agriculture. There doesn't seem to be a great many jobs dedicated to maintaining biodiversity in that sector.SckizoBoy said:Your GF is joking about I'm sure... hell, I used to be like that as well (well, when I was 12) until I discovered the joys of studying creepy-crawlies (entomologist). Anyway, taken literally 'science' is just Latin for 'knowledge'. Meh...
Still, these days, science is so interdisciplinary that physics is applied to biological studies in a lot of cases (e.g. single molecule spectroscopy, TEM and so on... god that shit bores me...)
BTW, *this* is my lab coat:Rascarin said:
Perhaps something to do with orchards and pollination? I love botany as well, so that would be ideal.
Nice lab-coat, by the way. We were explicitly told not to 'deface' ours, but maybe biochemists are just inherently uptight.
I am told there are forensic everythings. My teacher's favorite is the forensic accountant.
Do you wanna know what science is? Science is asking a question, and trying to answer it. Biology has been a science for hundreds of years, because we keep asking questions and finding answers.
Man, did you know you can just buy lab coats? Anyone can do science. Friggin' rocks.Rascarin said:
Biology is most definitely a science, though Mathematics and Physics are the 'pure' sciences.
Yes 100% (64 votes) haha.
Unfortunately, I'm an academic... so I spend all my time running around begging for money, which sucks, but once I get the ants/bees/moths/etc. out I can have fun (after a fashion... it is work after all). In industry, in this country (UK)... not much, though I am actually a chemical entomologist, so I cook on the side, the upshot being that I can give you shit loads of pest-control methods is a good argument for the whole 'give me money' issue.similar.squirrel said:
Lab coats: you should've seen one of my friends' lab coats during our undergrad days... got stained... washed... pink!
That thing is bad ass. Too bad we arent allowed to pimp up our lab coats like that.SckizoBoy said:Your GF is joking about I'm sure... hell, I used to be like that as well (well, when I was 12) until I discovered the joys of studying creepy-crawlies (entomologist). Anyway, taken literally 'science' is just Latin for 'knowledge'. Meh...
Still, these days, science is so interdisciplinary that physics is applied to biological studies in a lot of cases (e.g. single molecule spectroscopy, TEM and so on... god that shit bores me...)
BTW, *this* is my lab coat:Rascarin said:
You should have her read (and read for yourself for that matter) Mae-Wan Ho's excellent book The Rainbow and the Worm: The Physics of Organisms. It does an excellent job of looking at biology in terms of physics, using thermodynamics and quantum mechanics to explain the functioning of life. It's an excellent read and while you, like me, may not understand a lot of what's said, you'll almost certainly understand enough to permanently change the way that you look at biological systems.
If you really want to see Biology as a science, I can hardly imagine a better book to help.
If you really want to see Biology as a science, I can hardly imagine a better book to help.
Biologist use the scientific method, thus Biology is a scientific field. By extension psychology and sociology are also scientific fields, even if there is a much larger degree of uncertainty.
Did she explain why she thought biology is similar to art? Art is expression of creative impulse, science is the study of the known natural world through the scientific method, i fail to see the similarity.
Did she explain why she thought biology is similar to art? Art is expression of creative impulse, science is the study of the known natural world through the scientific method, i fail to see the similarity.
Pollen residue around the wound? High amounts of THC in the victim's bloodstream? I think we're dealing with Lepidopeterans.conflictofinterests said:Forensic entomologist?similar.squirrel said:Tell me, what kind of career could I expect to get with an entomology degree? I love insects, and I really don't want to end up designing pesticides for big agriculture. There doesn't seem to be a great many jobs dedicated to maintaining biodiversity in that sector.SckizoBoy said:Your GF is joking about I'm sure... hell, I used to be like that as well (well, when I was 12) until I discovered the joys of studying creepy-crawlies (entomologist). Anyway, taken literally 'science' is just Latin for 'knowledge'. Meh...
Still, these days, science is so interdisciplinary that physics is applied to biological studies in a lot of cases (e.g. single molecule spectroscopy, TEM and so on... god that shit bores me...)
BTW, *this* is my lab coat:Rascarin said:
Perhaps something to do with orchards and pollination? I love botany as well, so that would be ideal.
Nice lab-coat, by the way. We were explicitly told not to 'deface' ours, but maybe biochemists are just inherently uptight.
I am told there are forensic everythings. My teacher's favorite is the forensic accountant.
Really, when you get down to it...we don't know jack crap about the universe. What is scientific fact today is disproven tomorrow. If she thinks that mathematics is pure and infalible, ask her about the square root of -1. It's i. i is for an imaginary number. So called "geniuses" had to MAKE UP a number that DOESN'T EXIST to balance all the equations they couldn't solve. In short, when you compare the infinite knowledge in the infinite universe to what we ACTUALLY know...we know next to nothing.
XKCD has it's head up its analsphincter and is woefully ignorant of sciences- especially biology - see the jurrasic park diabetes strip for instance. The author may be a mathematician but that doesn't make him better or 'purer' than say a biochemist making medicine for people.
Biology encompasses much - biochemistry, genetics, epigenetics, medicine, genomics and a host of others. Taxonomy is about classification but that's based on things like genetics nowadays.
Psychology and sociology are more 'arty' in my opinion as it is not something you can always repeat in a controlled environment but still have some scientific merit
Forensic means 'for court' (same route as 'forum') you can be a 'forensic computer gamer' if the court requires an expert on the issue and if you are such an expert..(you'd have to have some backup!)
Additionally interdisciplinary stuff will be all the rage soon if not already - there was a plastics engineer who designed a valve for his heart once the doctors explained what was wrong with him. The melding of minds I tells ya!
Biology encompasses much - biochemistry, genetics, epigenetics, medicine, genomics and a host of others. Taxonomy is about classification but that's based on things like genetics nowadays.
Psychology and sociology are more 'arty' in my opinion as it is not something you can always repeat in a controlled environment but still have some scientific merit
Forensic Brick Expert. A woman who could tell the court where a particular brick had come from and what it was made from and so on..
Forensic means 'for court' (same route as 'forum') you can be a 'forensic computer gamer' if the court requires an expert on the issue and if you are such an expert..(you'd have to have some backup!)
QFT - I'm a 'biologist' doing genetics, however I have to use spectroscopy and chemistry on a daily basis.
Additionally interdisciplinary stuff will be all the rage soon if not already - there was a plastics engineer who designed a valve for his heart once the doctors explained what was wrong with him. The melding of minds I tells ya!
