The nature of science can be found in its process as a mode of discovery. Science, like most fields of study, is basically still just a process of understanding reality and the environment. As a process of understanding, it necessarily involves guesses and conjectures (McComas, 1996). As William McComas states, it is a myth to think that the scientific method is purely scientific just as it is flawed to consider a hypothesis as an educated guess (McComas, 1996). Science, therefore, is a journey into the unknown, a trek to arrive at a better understanding of the world we live in.
True to the nature of science, it would be rash and counter-science to define the nature of science in something as precise as simply a mode of discovery. The nature of science is something much more than a mode of discovery since it also leads to the invention and development of new technologies that benefit mankind (Lederman, 1998). To consider the nature of science as simply just a mode of discovery and not a process of transforming nature would be to deny the true nature of science. It is true that science presents answers to questions that have previously left unanswered. It is also equally true that science takes on a different form when it is applied; when these discoveries are applied in real life.
The nature of science should, therefore, be properly understood as a process that involves discovery and practical application. If science were merely a mode of discovery, without application, then it would simply be a philosophy and not, so to speak, a science. It is with this understanding that the misconceptions and myths are unraveled.
References
- Lederman, N.G. 1998, December. The State of Science Education: Subject Matter Without Context Electronic Journal of Science Education, V3 N2, https://ewok.biology.sjsu.edu/Drmatson/Biol%20100W/Nature%20of%20Science%20Readings/Lederman%20State%20of%20Science%20Education.pdf (accessed on 15 September 2008).
- McComas, William F. 1996, January Ten Myths of Science: Reexamining what we think we know about the nature of Science. School Science & Mathematics; Jan96, Vol. 96 Issue 1, p10, 7p
