The Birth of Science

Nature is generous. She has given us snow-covered mountain slopes from which come life-giving water. She has given us rich soil. She has given us growing plants for food, shelter, and clothing. And beneath the earth she has stored up priceless minerals.

And yet there are those who seek to destroy it, whether it is for some ill-begotten purpose, or just to show that they have power. Fortunately there are ways to fight this evil; either by starting a petition or perhaps delving into the field of environmental sciences.

Environmental science may open a path for you to your life's work- work in some field of environmental science, perhaps as an engineer, a doctor, a researcher. Or perhaps your interests will take you into some work not related directly to this science. Even so, your study of environmental science will be of great value to you. It will help you to understand the world in which you live. More importantly, it will teach you a method of solving problems.

Once upon a time, there was no science. Gradually, thoughtful men began to study the things and the happenings around them. They began to study their environment. As knowledge increased, some men began to realize that all things in the heavens above, on the earth and beneath, and in the waters under the earth were made according to Divine Plan.

Men began to organize this knowledge, and began to classify things, putting similar things in groups. This arranging and classifying was the beginning of science; it can be said that science is organized knowledge.

But they did not stop with just organizing their knowledge. Gradually they worked out a plan for studying their surroundings. Science is a plan or a method for studying a problem, and the plan that scientists use is called the scientific method. The plan might be stated this way:

1. Know your problem-that is, think through whatever it is you want to find out.
2. Consider all the information you have about the problem.
3. Using all the information you have, make the best guess you can.
4. Test your best guess by observation or experiment.
5. Record your observations and the results of your experiments accurately.
6. From these observations and experiments, state your own conclusion or answer to your problem.
7. Try to apply your conclusion to other things that happen about you. See if it helps you to understand them better.

Experiments help find the answers to certain problems. Before we try an experiment, we should understand the parts or steps involved. A true scientist always gets his thoughts clear about any problem he attacks. A simple, brief statement of the problem helps him to do this. The petition process works much the same way.