Critical Article Discussion English
Article: Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs By Stephen Jay Gould
Article Overview
Science, in its most fundamental definition, is a fruitful mode of inquiry, not a list of enticing conclusions. The conclusions are the consequence, not the essence.
My greatest unhappiness with most popular presentations of science concerns their failure to separate fascinating claims from the methods that scientists use to establish the facts of nature. Journalists, and the public, thrive on controversial and stunning statements. But science is, basically, a way of knowing—in P. B. Medawar’s apt words, “the art of the soluble.” If the growing corps of popular science writers would focus on how scientists develop and defend those fascinating claims, they would make their greatest possible contribution to public understanding….End of Overview….
- What do you think the main argument of the article is? Identify it in 1-2 sentences.
- Identify one of the theories about the extinction of the dinosaurs that Gould thinks is NOT scientific. What is wrong with this theory? Why doesn’t it meet Gould’s standards of proper scientific reasoning?
- Identify the theory about the extinction of the dinosaurs that Gould thinks IS scientific. Why is convincing this theory? What principles of a good scientific theory does the theory meet (there are 2 main principles)? Explain briefly