Kelty on common reading: Popper helped define scientific theory
After no students attended Tuesday night’s common reading discussion, about 20 attended Wednesday night’s discussion about the history and philosophy of scientific theory.
Anthropology Professor Chris Kelty lectured and led a discussion for the second in a series of forums about the common readings. Tuesday night’s discussion has been moved to this Wednesday and will be moderated by History Professor Thomas Haskell.
Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman introduced common readings — two sets of articles, each with a common theme — as a way to encourage academic discussions among students. New students were encouraged to read the articles over the summer. The topics of the articles are advocacy and objectivity, and scientific theory.
Kelty said he agreed to give the lecture because he hoped it would stimulate intellectual conversation.
“One of the things that I find very frustrating at Rice is the lack of intellectual climate and culture that happens day to day,” Kelty said.
When Kelty asked the audience who had read the articles, no hands were raised.
“This is supposed to be common reading,” Kelty joked. “Not common entertainment hour.”
Kelty began by discussing how widespread scientific theory is, giving examples of how it affects areas such as public policy and government.
“I think regardless of the major you go into or the field you get into, you’re going to run into problems related to the question of [scientific theory],” Kelty said.
Kelty, who holds a Ph.D. in science, technology and society, said that even though he is neither a scientist nor an engineer, he can follow discussion on topics such as string theory because he is familiar with the scientific process.
“I understand what they’re doing … because I can see certain aspects of what they’re talking about,” Kelty said. “I can identify it as a process that is familiar.”
Important parts of the process include a free exchange of ideas, openness to arguments and commitment to experimental work, Kelty said.
Kelty also discussed the ideas of Karl Popper, the author of a short essay in the readings.
“Popper wouldn’t really care [which physicist] was right so much,” Kelty said. “What his theory was about was demarcating the line between what is science and what is not science.”
Kelty said Popper based this line on the idea of falsification.
“If there’s no way to prove a theory’s false — if you can’t figure out an experiment you can do or you can’t ask a question or you can’t make an observation that would allow you to prove it false — then it’s not a scientific theory,” Kelty said.
Structured skepticism, rationality, truth and credit given to scientists are all important parts of science, Kelty summarized.
Kelty then gave an overview of the philosophy of science since Popper, noting important contributions from philosophers Thomas Kuhn and Ian Hacking.
Kelty also gave an example of a case involving the effect of technology and theory on scientific work.
Scientists who first studied how certain white blood cells destroy damaged or dysfunctional cells used film and microcinematographic techniques to view how the process works before performing actual experiments in labs, Kelty said.
Kelty discussed several similar examples, such as the use of scanning tunneling microscopes in conjunction with chemistry and computer modeling, as well as the use of open-source computer software for computer-based experiments.
Philosophy graduate student Jacob Koleman said he enjoyed the lecture and found Kelty’s interdisciplinary approach intriguing.
“He did a pretty good overview of names in the history and philosophy of science,” Koleman said.
However, Koleman said he wished the discussion had been better publicized.
Koleman said he learned about the lecture in an e-mail Forman sent to students and departments Wednesday afternoon.
Wiess College senior Hiren Patel said the lecture resonated with him.
“I want to be a theorist,” Patel said. “[The discussion] told me theories are not the only thing to science.”
Patel said he also did not hear about the lecture until Wednesday afternoon.
Forman said his office was not as effective as it should have been in communicating the excitement of the readings and discussions.
“We are new at this and are still learning how to do it better,” Forman said. “I think we could have framed the readings so they were more inviting and advertised more effectively. We may have presented the topics and speakers with a bit too much reverence and haven’t made it easy to see how exciting these topics are and how relevant they are.”
Forman said the common reading was not specifically directed at new students, although they were encouraged to do the reading.
“The goal was to welcome new students especially into the Rice community of scholars where timely and challenging issues are discussed openly and thoughtfully by students and faculty,” Forman said.
Forman said he wished the turnout for the event was higher given that it offered students the opportunity to interact with a professor who is an expert in the area being discussed.
“Especially given how exciting the event was, I think it would have been great if more students had been there to enjoy it.”
University Professor Neal Lane will lead a discussion on “Scientific Theory: The Practicioner’s Perspective” Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. Forman said there will be other events throughout the year related to the common reading and its topics.
“I hope this is the beginning of a long and exciting discussion,” Forman said.
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