I think Dale’s presentation was awesome. He really did an amazing job teaching the whole class about the history of fossils and paleontology. I enjoyed his enthusiasm, as well as the little facts about Ohio’s history and that of Orton Hall as well. I also liked how he talked about the naming of different species of dinosaurs such as those named after Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Carnegie, etc. I also found that many scientists didn’t believe in extinction to be interesting, especially since Jefferson even warned Lewis and Clark about Ground Sloths. I could only imagine what it was like for them to walk around the unseen terrain and always have that thought in the back of their mind that they might encounter a Ground Sloth!
Author: zade.2
Kareem Zade – Chris Otter
I really enjoyed how professor Otter gave a more easy to understand explanation of what exactly Kuhn was trying to convey about paradigms. I found it particularly interesting that he explains how every truth we know about isn’t really a truth, but normalized observations accepted by most of the population. He also mentioned a good point about finances, in which many scientists will not get funding to do research that goes against a certain paradigm, since the investors will not see any gain. This was interesting because in order for a paradigm shift to occur, one would need to conduct research that goes completely against what everyone thinks the “truth” is. I guess that explains why Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier was able to conduct much of his research, since he already came from such a wealthy background. This is also the case with many other famous scientists, such as Darwin, etc. This is also a side note, but I think that it is very interesting that Isaac Newton literally considered himself as a divine being, which I never knew before.
Kareem Zade – Dr. Mathur
I really enjoyed Dr. Mathur’s lecture to us on black holes. Before his lecture, I never really understood exactly what a black hole is and the physics/theories behind them. Although Dr. Mathur’s lecture was different from the rest in the sense that he did not really talk about the life and works of scientists, I still enjoyed his lecture because it gave me an appreciation for physics and for the contributions that Hawking had for the subject. Not many people really talk about Hawking’s theories. Rather, the difficulties he has overcome while making these discoveries are what he is mainly known for to most people of the general public. Dr. Mathur’s lecture shined a light on some of the theories that Hawking has developed, and the importance/mystery associated with them till this day.
Kareem Zade – Dr. Goldish
I really liked how enthusiastic Dr. Goldfish was when discussing to us the different scientists, such as Galileo and Copernicus, and how they actually worked with the churches to come up with these scientific revelations. His side stories kept me interested along the way, and provided more details about each scientist and what was going on in the rest of the world during their research and findings. I also did not know that there was actually never really a “war” between science and religion at the time. It was interesting that these scientists actually had the idea that God himself was revealing his creations to them, and that they were actually doing a good thing for the people and their religion by sharing this knowledge with the world. I wonder if this method would have worked with Darwin, although it is unlikely since the Bible, and other religious texts, clearly describe how humans were created. Whereas these texts are less specific or clear for topics that other scientists such as Newton had studied, making it easier for them to state that God had revealed the truth behind his creation to them.
Kareem Zade – Caroline
I enjoyed Caroline’s presentation on the women of science because it brought attention to the overlooked scientists of this world. In most of my science classes that I have taken here at OSU, there is always some sort of brief or in depth history of the male scientist and their findings. However, there has only been one moment that a female scientist and her findings was ever mentioned in any of my classes (Rosalind Franklin – Bio 1113). However, I am glad that modern science has given much more credit and appreciation to female scientists, as seen with Nobel Prize awards given to Dorothy Hodgkin, Marie Curie and her daughter Irene Curie-Jiliot; As well as the burial of Margaret Cavendish in the Westminster Abbey. Caroline really showed us the women of science whom were never shown to me before, and explained their findings and their contributions to science.
Kareem Zade – Dr. Cogan
Dr. Cogan’s presentation about Joseph Priestly and Antoine Lavoisier really had me thinking about how people viewed air in a whole new perspective. When being tasked with ditching everything we have ever learned about air and explaining it in the ways that the common person would have before these two chemists discoveries, I understood the public’s situation after learning of Priestly and Lavoisier’s findings. It must have been confusing for proponents of the Phlogiston Theory to strongly believe in such a theory for such a long time and then have to think about something as simple as air in a whole new perspective. I also enjoyed how Dr. Cogan talked a little about the political aspects of these chemists findings, in which political tensions and mob rule had a huge influence on both of their lives and work (and in the matter of Lavoisier, death). I was also amazed at how complex Priestly’s pneumatic trough was at his time, and how he was able to measure the life span of a mouse in different environments to understand what oxygen is. Overall, I enjoyed this presentation because it brought a great deal of appreciation that I never really had for something as simple as air, as well as the work that these two chemists did to understand what air and oxygen was.
Dr. Root – Kareem Zade
Dr. Root’s presentation on John Snow and Health Geography was really intriguing. I admit, when I thought about geography before this presentation, all that came to mind was studying rocks, land formations, etc. However, Dr. Root’s presentation has completely challenged the way I view geography. She showed me that understanding the cause and origin of a disease requires the incorporation of people from many different professions–as well as thinking outside the box–in order to truly understand how to eradicate the disease and finding vaccines for it. I also liked how Dr. Root provided the class with what truly goes into making a vaccine, and how vaccine efficacy is determined. In addition, I found her discussion on John Snow and Henry Whitehead particularly interesting when talking about how he refuted the many opposing scientists’ questions regarding his water pump hypothesis. This showed me that in order to find something new and ground-breaking, you have to think outside the box in a non-conventional sense (while also providing concrete evidence to both support your claim and refute any criticism). This also reminded me of when Dr. Root explained that the reason why her research found that the only house showing signs of the West Nile Virus was actually due to that house not having air conditioning. It really went to show that simple, yet scientifically out of the box, observations and questions can sometimes result in explaining the origin of a disease.
Dr. Anelli – Kareem Zade
I really enjoyed Dr. Anelli’s presentation about the life of Darwin. You could really see the enthusiasm and admiration of Darwin’s life and his contribution to science that she had in her presentation. I also really enjoyed how she filled in many gaps that were left out from the movie. One of the things that Dr. Anelli did that I also appreciated was when she explained some of the inspirations from which Darwin began to postulate his theory; Including his research on the Beagle and the scientific findings of other scientists such as Lyell, Lamarck, etc. I appreciated this because it brought the view on how Darwin was inspired, which is something that we tend to overlook when learning about scientists and their findings. I also liked how Dr. Anelli had us work on a questionnaire on Darwin’s life, which taught me things about Darwin that my previous biology classes or the movie had not shown us before. I also like how Dr. Anelli finished her presentation with the statement that it is very much possible to have both faith and believe in science at the same time. It just goes to show that while religion is important, it is also hard to deny the tangible evidence that explains why Darwin’s theory remains accepted to this day.