8/20/2010 Purwiyatno Hariyadi 1

Purwiyatno HariyadiDept of Food Science & TechnologyBogor Agricultural University

Science & Research

Agenda

• Science & research• Basic and applied research• Serendipity

1. a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws.

2. systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.

3. any of the branches of natural or physical science.4. systematized knowledge in general.5. knowledge, as of facts or principles; knowledge gained by systematic study.6. a particular branch of knowledge.7. any skill or technique that reflects a precise application of facts or principles.

[Websters College Dictionary]

Definition:Science

Scientific theories are derived in some rigorous

way from the facts of experience acquired by

observation and experiment.

Definition:Science

1. diligent and systematic inquiry into a subject in order to discover or revise facts, theories, etc.

2. a particular instance or piece of research. 3. to make researches; investigate carefully.4. to make an extensive investigation into.

[Websters College Dictionary]

Definition:Research

Science is an activity characterized by three features

1. It is a search for understanding, for a sense of having found a satisfying explanation of some aspects of reality.

2. The understanding is achieved by means of statements of general laws and principles–laws applicable to the widest possible variety of phenomena.

3. The laws or principles can be tested experimentally.

[Goldstein, 1978, p. 6]

Empirical Science• Classifying the fields of science and arranging

them in some sort of hierarchy of generality and specificity is an exercise in frustration.

• Potential groups:– Empirical science (based on external

observations): natural sciences, social sciences, applied science

– Transempirical science (ideational realm): mathematics and logic

Empirical scienceI

Pure science Applied science

II

Natural sciences Socialsciences

III

Physicalsciences

Macrocosmic/Inorganic sci.

Biologicalsciences

IV

Inanimate/Inorganic

Animate/Organic

Cultural/Artifactual

Normative/Descriptive

PhysicsChemistry

CosmologyAstronomyGeologyGeophysicsHydrologyOceanograp.Meteorology

ZoologyBotany

Anthropolo.SociologyLinguisticsPolitical sci.EconomicsPsychology

Computer sci.EngineeringTechnolgyMedicineAgronomyPharmacologyWeaponry

[Strahler, 1992, fig 4.1, p. 76

National Science Foundations, US:

• Research is systematic study directed toward fuller scientific knowledge or under-standing of the subjected studied. Research is classified as either basic or applied according to the objectives of the sponsoring agency.

Basic and applied research

Establishedknowledge

New knowledge

Basic and applied research

• In basic research the objective of the sponsoring agency is to gain fuller knowledge or understanding of the fundamental aspects of phenomena and of observable facts without specific applications toward process or products in mind.

Basic and applied research

Basic and applied research (cont.)

Basic research

Establishedknowledge

Hypothesis orgoal (i.e. new knowledge?)

Scientific method

Assisting hypothesesor sub-goals

• In applied research the objective of the sponsoring agency is to gain knowledge or understanding necessary for determining the means by which a recognized and specific need may be met.

Basic and applied research

Basic and applied research (cont.)

Applied research

Establishedknowledge

Recognized need or

New product(SW/HW)Unknown knowledge

concerning the reali-sation of the steps

Scientific method

Assisting hypothesesor sub-goals

Basic and applied research (cont.)

• Development is systematic use of the knowledge or understanding gained from research, directed toward the production of useful material, devices, systems, or methods.

Basic and applied research (cont.)

Development

Establishedknowledge

New product(software/-hardware)

Established know-ledge concerning

the steps

Method

RefinementSub-solutions

Basic research in Japan

• In US, basic research is research without any application in mind.

• In Japan, basic research is research which is basic for future industry.

Serendipity

A lot of scientific discoveries are a result of serendipity (ser uhn dip'i tee) n. 1. an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. 2. good fortune; luck.

[1754; SERENDIP + - ITY; Horace Walpole so named a faculty possessed by the heroes of a fairy tale called “The Three Princes of Serendip”]

[Webster's College Dictionary]

(Serendipity)

Archimedes (300 B.C.)

• “Eureka, eureka” (“I found it”). • Discovered – in Syracuse’s public bath – how

to measure the volume of an irregular object, such as a crown.

• Side effect: the goldsmith were executed for substitution of 50% of the gold with other metals.

(Serendipity)

Wilhelm C. Röntgen (1845-1923)

• Discovered X rays by accident. • He repeated some experiments with

cathode rays in a dark room, and discovered that a blinded cathode tube lighted a little fluorescent screen lying more than a yard from the tube.

(Serendipity)

Wilhelm C. Röntgen (1845-1923)

• Among others, he found that he could record skeletal images on a photographic film.

• This property of X rays captured the attention of the medical world immediately.

(Serendipity)

Alfred Nobel (1833-1896)

• The discovery (one version): A metal container of nitroglycerin was found to have sprung a leak and the liquid had soaked into the packing between the metal cans.

• This packing material was kieselguhr, a cheap, light, porous mineral that was widespread in the northern Germany. Nobel happened to observe the pastry mixture produced by the leak from the damaged container.

(Serendipity)

Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) (cont.)

• Presumably, it occurred to him to test the material, and he found that it could be pressed into a compact solid that retained the explosive power of the liquid, but was safe and reliable until set off by a blasting cap.

• The other version:Nobel discovered this through hard work in his laboratory.