Module 1 Unit 1: The nature of science

Table of contents
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.1 Definitions of science
3.2 Branches of science
3.3 Aims of science
3.4 Differences between science and non-science disciplines
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-marked assignment (TMA)
7.0 References and further reading

1.0 Introduction
I believe you read the course guide? If so, it means you now have a general
understanding of what this unit is about and how it fits into the course as a whole.
The unit will make you aware of the various definitions of science, branches of
science, aims of science and the differences between science and non-science
disciplines. It is also important to you because it will help you to understand the
subsequent units. The objectives below specify what you are expected to learn
after going through this unit.

2.0 Objectives
At the end of the unit, you should be able to:
1. Outline the three ways of defining science.
2. Identify carefully the areas of knowledge which qualify to be science.
3. State briefly the purpose of science.

3.1 Definitions of Science

What comes to your mind when the word ‘science’ is mentioned? Is it chemistry,
physics, biology or mathematics? The word ‘science’ is derived from the Latin
word, ‘scientia’ which means ‘Knowledge’ (Eneh: 2000). On the simplest level,
science has been defined as the knowledge of the world of nature (The New
Encyclopaedia Britannica:1995). The above definition however does not exhaust
the full meaning of science. So it is difficult to define it. However, science
generally is regarded in three main ways as (Nwala: 1997):
1. A body of knowledge.
2. A method for acquiring knowledge or studying and understanding the world.
3. An institution.

Science as a body of knowledge

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 What does the word ‘body’ tell you? The bodies of knowledge generally regarded as
science include, chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics, microbiology, pharmacy
and medicine. These bodies of knowledge differ from other forms of knowledge
such as religion and art in both content and form. You will study about these
differences in a subsequent section.

Science as a method for acquiring knowledge

Science has well-known procedures for obtaining knowledge. The two branches of
science, which are empirical and formal sciences, use what is called the scientific
method. The 2 steps of that method include observation, problem
hypothesis formulation, experimentation, conclusion and theory formulation.
definition,
Formal science utilises concepts, rules and theories, and expresses them in
aquantitative and statistical manner. You will understand the meanings of empirical,
concepts, rules and theories in the subsequent section and units. Anybody that uses
the scientific method or the method of formal sciences to obtain knowledge is said
to be involved in science.

Science as an institution
Science can be viewed as an institution which comprises millions of experts. These
experts engage in the study and development of human knowledge. The experts or
scientists can be found in various research and educational institutions, industries,
hospitals, companies, etc. The cooperation and interaction among them make the
development of science possible and reliable.

Exercise 1.1 (Answers on page 7)

Fill in the blanks by choosing the correct word or phrase:

1. List the three main ways in which science is viewed.

(a)- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(b)-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(c)- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Formal science utilises (a) --------------------------------- (b) ----------------------------

-- and (c) ---------------------------------- to gain knowledge of nature.

3.2 Branches of science

In the last section you learnt the various meanings of the word ‘science’. In this
section, you will be exposed to the two ways of grouping scientific disciplines or
bodies of knowledge. This will enable you to identify, any time, the areas
knowledge
of which qualify to be called science.

The first way is to group the scientific disciplines into:

1. Formal sciences
2. Empirical sciences

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 Formal sciences include mathematics (which comprise geometry, algebra,
trigonometry, arithmetic), logic, theoretical physics, and statistics. Formal sciences
have a formal and deductive character. Science is said to be formal if its contents,
arguments and procedures obey certain rules. The result and conclusions of such
sciences are valid and authentic only if they conform to those rules (Nwala: 1997).
For example, in mathematics there are rules of addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division. There are also rules for solving certain equations and
problems, theorems, etc. Let’s take for instance that you are given the following
problems to solve:

3/4 of (5/6 + 1/4) | 7/3 x 4 + 1/2 – 3

How would you go about it? The rule says that ‘bracket’ is solved first, followed by
‘of ’, then division, multiplication, addition and subtraction in that order. The
mnemonic device for remembering this rule is BODMAS where:

B stands for bracket. The symbol is ( )

O stands for of. The symbol is still ‘of ’
D stands for division. The symbol is /
M stands for multiplication. The symbol is ‘x’
A stands for addition. The symbol is +
S stands for subtraction. The symbol is –

The result and conclusion of the problem above will be valid and a authentic
only if the rule of BODMAS is followed. Thus a body of formal
systematic
science isand deductive in character.

Empirical sciences, on the other hand, include physics, chemistry, biology,

psychology, botany, zoology, biochemistr y, microbiology, geology, medical
sciences, etc. These study objects and phenomena which can be observed through
any of the senses and which can be tested with instruments such as the telescope,
microscope, ruler, tapes and scales. In other words, anything that cannot
observed with the senses of sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell or with instruments
be
such as ruler, telescope, etc. is outside science. Can you think of examples of sense
perception and non-sense perception objects? Sense perception objects, which are
the subject of empirical sciences, include the human body, bodies of other animals
such as goats, cows and dogs; as well as natural objects such as the weather,
diseases, plants and insects. These can be observed with the senses or measured
with instruments because they are material things. For instance, we can see a cow
walking on the road, perceive the odour of its droppings, touch its hairy body or
taste its flesh (Nwabuisi).

Thus, empirical scientists observe and experiment in order to find out how
things originate, grow or develop, function and relate to each other. They also try to
find out the laws which govern their behaviour. They are interested in
regularities
the or laws, which enable them to understand or explain the objects or

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phenomena under study. The knowledge derived in empirical sciences includes
inductive generalisations, laws and theories. You will study about these concepts in
units 2 to 4. The concepts are formulated in clearly defined statements, propositions
or in statistical equations or formulae. Objects which cannot be perceived by the
senses include values such as the goodness or badness of a thing, rightness, virtue,
beauty, holiness and truth. If the following statement is made, ‘Ada is a good girl’,
do you think you can observe ‘goodness’ with your senses or measure it with an
instrument? It is not possible, and so the study of ‘goodness’ is outside empir ical
science.
The second way of grouping scientific disciplines is according to the class of
objects or phenomena they deal with (Nwala: 1997). For example,
1. Natural sciences deal with all natural objects. Under it are sub-branches such as:
(a) Physical sciences, which include disciplines like physics, chemistry,
geology, applied mathematics, astronomy, etc. These deal with physical
and inanimate objects such as rocks, rivers, and mountains.
(b) Biological sciences. Disciplines under it include biology, zoology, botany,
microbiology. These deal with living bodies such as human beings,
animals, insects and plants.
(c) Medical sciences. They include general medicine, anatomy, surgery,
physiology, and veterinary medicine. These disciplines deal with objects
and problems that affect human and animal health.
(d) Pharmaceutical sciences, which include pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical
chemistry, pharmacognosy and pharmacology. These disciplines are
concerned with drugs and drug contents of plants and other objects.

2. Social sciences. Disciplines under it are

(a) Economics
(b) Social psychology
(c) Geography
(d) Sociology and anthropology
(e) Social philosophy, etc.

These deal with society and social institutions.

In spite of all these classifications of science, there is a point that is worth
noting. The differences between the disciplines are not absolute (Taylor: 1979). The
disciplines began to be systematically arranged in the late nineteenth century so as
to avoid inconsistency and overlap. You will understand this point clearer when you
study units 5 to 8. The differences between the disciplines arise as differences of
viewpoint between the scientists. In other words, the significant thing is not that
chemistry differs from physics, but that the chemist’s view of the world differs from
that of the physicist. It is good that you accept all disciplines as part of life and of
living and of our curiosity about the world around us. But to be realistic, most
university departments or programmes and professional bodies are based on well-
defined and separated subjects. Presently, however, some integration of the sciences
is making a comeback. For instance, we now have fields of study such as physical
chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics.

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 The figure below illustrates a theme approach to integration of science and
other subjects in the Israeli curriculum (D’Ambrosio: 1979). The theme or
phenomenon under study is ‘light and shadow’. The figure shows how the theme
‘light and shadow’ is viewed or studied by disciplines such as art, physics and
botany.

Exercise 1.2 (Answers on page 7)

A. Multiple choice
Encircle the letter of the correct alternative:
1. An example of a formal science is
(a) Medicine.
(b) Economics.
(c) Biology.
(d) Mathematics.

2. Objects which can be perceived by the senses include:

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 (a) Human body.
(b) Goats
(b) Weather
(d) All of the above

B. Matching

3. Match the items in ‘A’ with those in ‘B’ by filling in the correct letter in the
space provided.

A B

Virtue a. Deductive science

Physiology b. Measuring instrument
Scales c. Empirical science
Biochemistry d. Mathematical rule
BODMAS e. Non-sense perception object
Geometry f. Medical science

3.3 Aims of science

The last section described the two ways of grouping scientific disciplines. Before
examining the steps involved in the process of obtaining knowledge, let us turn to
the aims or purposes of science.
Why do you think people involve themselves in scientific activities? Right from
the dawn of history, man has tried to understand himself and the nature
surrounds him. He has seen the world around him, which evidently has remained the
that
same world, and yet is full of change, motion and of variety. There are dawns and
sunsets, births and deaths, the solid earth and the ever-restless seas. There are
various kinds of things in the world — minerals, plants, and men. Thus, we can say
that science aims at enabling man to explain how the world, events and objects
around him originate, develop, operate or function. It also helps him to predict how
they will behave in future and thus enables him to control the behaviour of the
things around him, once he is able to develop the appropriate instruments for such
control (Nwala: 1997).
Thus, science is theoretical. It equips us with theoretical knowledge about the
world. Such knowledge is usually summar ised using concepts, laws and theories.
These help us to express and systematise our understanding of objects
phenomena. Science also equips us with practical knowledge in terms of the various
and
ways, mechanisms and instruments which enable us to control objects and
phenomena. Science is, therefore, not only a source of knowledge; it is also a source
of power.

3.4 Differences between science and non-science disciplines

You may be able to identify areas of non-science if you have understood sections
3.1 and 3.2. Why do you think they are called non-science? Among those things

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 called nonscience are religion, art, metaphysics (a branch of philosophy), mysticism,
common sense, imagination, etc.
Religion, for instance, is concerned with worship of the supernatural; science is
concerned with nature and natural phenomena and objects. In particular, religion is
speculative. It is based on faith or dogma. The basic religious beliefs are
questionable. In the field of study called rational religion or theology, the aim is to
not
make religious beliefs reasonable without rejecting them. In other words, theology
tries to confirm religious beliefs (Nwala: 1997).
Religion relies on the principle that the universe is governed by spiritual laws.
All the other non-sciences exhibit some of these attributes. Thus non-sciences are
said to be subjective, unverifiable, non-factual, not objective, not systematic and not
quantifiable (that is measurable). Their study is often a matter of
involving trial and error. Consequently, knowledge based on them does not enable
guesswork,
us to explain, predict and control phenomena in the way scientific knowledge can
(Nwala: 1997).
Science, on the other hand, is not dogmatic. It is based on reason and does not
accept any idea or belief on faith. It subjects everything under its study to critical
examination. It does not accept anything as sacred and unquestionable. It relies on
the principle that the universe is governed by material law which may
mechanical, electrical, chemical, biological, etc.
be
Science seeks knowledge that is objective, certain, systematic, provable and
supported by evidence. This is done through a systematic method of
observation, formulation of hypothesis, experimentation, organised theory
inquiry,
construction, etc. It further overcomes the limitations of the senses through the use
of instruments, diagrams, equations and formal symbols (Nwala: 1997).
However, some have argued that science differs from non-science only in
degree. It is pointed out, for example, that common sense has a certain scientific
character. It recognises certain basic laws of nature and acts on their basis. For
example, traditional agriculture, which is based mainly on common sense
experience, recognises the laws governing soil fertility. On the other hand, science
involves a certain degree of speculation and imagination especially at the level of
formulating hypotheses (Nwala: 1997). You will discover this when you study the
next unit, which is unit 2.
In general, science is said to be objective, systematic, reliable, etc. Being
objective means that all those who adopt the same method or procedure can prove or
verify the claims or statements, which the body of scientific knowledge contains.
Being systematic means that all the various elements in a body of
knowledge are locally related and each can be inferred from the other. For instance,
scientific
go to the library, and get hold of any science textbook. If you turn to the table of
contents, you will observe that topics are arranged sequentially. Basic topics in
biology such as ‘the cell — its structure and functions’ are discussed before topics
like the structure of the kidney, liver, brain, etc. These latter organs are made up of
cells. So you need to understand what the cell is before you can understand the
structure of the kidney or the liver. Science being reliable means that it can enable
us to adequately and correctly explain, predict and control any phenomenon in

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 question. Thus science differs from non-science in method and in the systematic
character of its knowledge.
After all’s said and done, the next unit will show us that science has some
limitations. And these limitations are defined by the very method science uses to
obtain knowledge — that is the scientific method.

Exercise 1.3 (Answers on page 7)

1. Non-science disciplines include (a) -------------------------------- (b)
--------------------------and (c) -------------------------------------
2. List three characteristics of non-science disciplines.

4.0 Conclusion
In this unit, you have learnt what the nature (that is, characteristics) of science is.
The definitions, branches, and aims of science were discussed. The final discussion
was on 7 the differences between science and non-science disciplines. From these
discussions you would now be able to tell which disciplines qualify to be sciences
and what the overall purposes of sciences are.

5.0 Summary
A summary of the major points in this Unit is that:
1. Science was defined in terms of
(a) a body of knowledge;
(b) a method for acquiring knowledge, and
(c) an institution.

2. Science disciplines can be grouped in two main ways, viz:

(a) Formal sciences such as mathematics and logic; and empirical sciences
comprising physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, etc.
(b) Natural sciences and social sciences, according to the class of objects or
phenomena they deal with. Natural sciences deal with natural objects
while social sciences deal with society and social institutions.
Sub-branches of natural sciences are physical sciences such as physics
and
chemistry; biological sciences such as biology, and microbiology;
medical sciences like anatomy and surgery, and finally pharmaceutical
sciences such as pharmaceutics and pharmacology. Social science
disciplines include economics and geography.

3. The purpose of science is to enable human beings to explain, predict and to

control nature.
4. Non-science disciplines are said to be subjective, unverifiable, non-
factual, not systematic and not quantifiable.

Answers to the exercises

Exercise 1.1
1. Science is viewed as

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 (a) a body of knowledge
(b) a method for acquiring knowledge
(c) an institution
2. (a) concepts, (b) rules, (c) theories

Exercise 1.2
1. (d) 2.(d) 3.e, f, b, c, d, a

Exercise 1.3
1 (a) Religion, (b) Metaphysics, (c) Art
2. Non-science disciplines are subjective, unverifiable, non-factual, etc.

6.0 Tutor-marked assignment (TMA)

1. With examples, differentiate between formal and empirical sciences.
2. What do you consider to be the aims of science? Justify your decision as
fully as you can.

7.0 References and f urther reading

D’Ambrosio, U. (1979) ‘The relationship of integrated science to other subjects
in the curriculum’ in: J. Reay (ed.) New Trends in Integrated Science Teaching,
Vol. V,
UNESCO Press, Paris.
Eneh, J. O. (2000) History and Philosophy of Science — An Outline, Magnet
Business Enterprises, Publishing Division, Enugu.

Nwabuisi, E.M., Philosophy of Nigerian Education in Modern Times, Etukokwu

Publishers Nig. Ltd, Onitsha.

Nwala, T.U. (1997) ‘Definition, branches and aims of science’ in: Nwala, T. U.
(ed.) History and Philosophy of Science, Niger Books and Publishing Co. Ltd,
Nsukka, pp. 1–6.

Taylor, C . (1979) ‘A scientist’s view of the Nijmegen conference’ in: J. Reay

(ed.) New Trends in Integrated Science Teaching, (Vol. V), UNESCO Press,
Paris, pp. 9–12.

The New Encyclopaedia Britannica (1995) ‘The history of science’ Vol. 27, pp. 32–
42.

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Module 1 Unit 2: The scientific method

Table of contents
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.1 Scientific method of acquiring knowledge
3.2 How it works in real life
3.3 How it has worked in science
3.4 Creative and critical thinking
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-marked assignment
7.0 References and further reading

1.0 Introduction
In the last Unit, science was defined in three main ways as: (a) a body of
knowledge, (b) a method for acquiring knowledge and (c) an institution. In this
unit, that method of acquiring scientific knowledge called the scientific method
will be discussed in detail. The emphasis will be on how it works in real life and
how it has worked in science. This Unit promises to be very exciting because
you will learn the method of effective thinking. It will be of great value to you if
you apply it to solving life problems. Thus after studying this unit certain things
will be required of you. They are listed in the objectives below.

2.0 Objectives
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
1. List sequentially the steps of the scientific method.
2. Explain vividly with one example how the method can be used to solve a
named life problem.
3. Explain briefly with one example how the method can be used to solve a
hypothetical scientific problem.
4. Assess clearly the use of the steps of creative and critical thinking when
given a hypothetical case story.

3.1 Scientific Method of Acquiring Knowledge

Superficially, science is a collection of ‘facts’ (body of knowledge) that describe

and
explain the workings of nature. Although these facts are interesting – even
fascinating – they are not the essence of science. Rather, the excitement of
science lies in the intriguing observation and the carefully designed experiments
that scientists have devised to help us learn about nature. The important thing
here is the process of science — not just knowing the facts, but appreciating

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 how scientists discovered (and continue to discover) those facts. The process is
characterised by a sequence of steps, which enable scientists to approach
objective truth as closely as possible (Moore, McCann and McCann: 1974).
Taken singly, most of the steps are commonplace procedures carried out by
people on a daily basis. Taken together, they amount to one of the
powerful tools man has devised to know and to control nature [‘The nature of
most
science’ (see ‘References and further reading’)].
The steps of science include the following:

1. Observation
Knowledge comes from noticing resemblances and recurrences in the events
that happen around us — Wilfred Trotter (Source: Beveridge: 1970)

Observation is the first step of the scientific method. Thus anything that cannot
be observed cannot be investigated by science. For example, a young student
observes that maize grains, which were placed in a wet container inside a dark
cupboard, germinated, but that the leaves were pale yellow instead of the normal
green colour of leaves (Olorode and Kloh: 2000). Scientific observation can be
both direct and indirect. Direct observations are made with the aid of the senses
just as our hypothetical student observed the maize grains with his eyes. Indirect
observations are performed with the aid of instruments. Atomic nuclei and
magnetism, for example, cannot be perceived directly through our sense organs,
but their effects can be observed with instruments. What other things do you
think can be observed indirectly?
Observations can also be classified into:
1. Spontaneous or passive observations which are unexpected
2. Induced or active observations, which are deliberately looked out for
(Beveridge, 1970).
Effective spontaneous observation involves firstly noticing some object or event.
The thing noticed will only have meaning if the mind of the observer either
consciously or unconsciously relates it to some relevant knowledge or past
experience. It can also be important if the observer in the process of thinking
over it arrives at some hypothesis.
From our hypothetical example, the student noticed that the pale yellow colour
of the leaves of the maize grains was different from the normal green colour of
maize grains. He thus related what he observed with his previous knowledge.
Powers of observation can be developed by cultivating the habit of watching
things with an active enquiring mind. It is no exaggeration to say that well
developed habits of observation are more important in scientific research or
even in daily living than a large accumulation of academic learning (Beveridge:
1970).

Correct observation is a most difficult art acquired only after long

experience and many errors. The difficulty lies largely in unsuspected bias.
People forever see what they want to see or what they think they ought to see. It
is extremely hard to rid oneself of such unconscious prejudice and to see just

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what is actually there, no more and no less. This is the reason why a scientific
observation must be repeatable. Science does not take any observation at face
value. Several scientists must be able to repeat that observation independently
and report the same thing for that observation to be of value to science (‘The
nature of science’).
After an observation has been made, the second step of the scientific method
is to define the problem.

2. Problem definition
In this step, questions are asked about the observation. If our hypothetical
student in
(1) above shows further curiosity, he will decide to find out why those seedlings
had pale yellow leaves instead of green. This is the definition of the problem. He
asks himself, ‘Why are the leaves pale yellow instead of green?’ This is the kind
of causal question that the scientific method deals with. Science is
fundamentally about finding answers to questions.
Significantly, not everyone sees that there may actually be a
connected
problemwith an observation. For thousands of years, even curious people
simply took it for granted that any unsupported object that is thrown up in the air
must fall to the ground. It took a genius (Isaac Newton) to ask, ‘How come?
(‘The nature of science’), and few questions have ever contributed more to
science as this. Good questioning, like good observing, is a high art. To be of
value to science, a question must be relevant and it must be testable. Experience
helps in deciding if a question is relevant or not. To find answers to scientific
questions, scientists use past experiences, ideas and observations.
Exercise 2.1
1. Observation can be classified into (a) ————————————— or
passive observation, and (b) —————————————— or active
observation. 2. To be of value to science, a question must be (a)
————————— or (b) ————————— .
3. Hypothesis formulation
This is the third step of the scientific method. Do you know that this involves the
seemingly quite unscientific procedure of guessing? One guesses what the
answer to the question might be. Scientists call this assumed answer
hypothesis.
a A given question, as you might be aware, may have thousands of
possible answers but only one right answer. Thus, there are excellent chances
that a random guess will be wrong. The scientist will only know if his guess was
correct after he must have completed the fourth step of the scientific method,
which is experimentation (‘The nature of science’). The main function of a
hypothesis is to predict new experiments or new observations.
Thus our hypothetical student in (2) above will try to state all the possible
explanations of his observation, or all the possible solutions to the problem he
defined. One possible explanation he might give is that the pale yellow colour
referred to is the characteristic of the particular variety of maize that was
germinating in the dark cupboard. Another explanation he might give is that the
pale yellow colouration resulted from the exclusion of light.

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 As we said before, all the hypotheses relating to a problem cannot be valid,
and the only way to decide which hypothesis is valid is to test each of the
hypotheses. If experimentation shows that the first guess was wrong,
scientist then must formulate a new hypothesis and once more test for validity
the
by performing new experiments. Clearly, the guessing and guess testing might
go on for years and a right answer might never be found.
Obviously, much faster progress would be made if the number of hypotheses
were few. The amount of previous knowledge or experience a scientist has
enables him to achieve this. This shows us the impor tance of
knowledge for scientific progress and the truly social character of knowledge
previous
(Olorode and Kloh: 2000).
If you may recall from section 3.4 of unit 1, it is while hypothesising that
common sense, intuitions and lucky accidents help science enormously. The
story has it that in one famous case, the German chemist, Kekulé went to bed
one night after a fairly alcoholic party (Olorode and Kloh: 2000). In his sleep, he
dreamt of six monkeys chasing one another in a circle, the tail of one held in the
teeth of the other. Practically, our whole chemical industry is based on that
dream because it told the sleeping scientist what the structure of benzene was.
Scientists at that time had been trying to figure out the structure of benzene.
Kekulé then concluded that benzene has six carbon atoms ‘chasing’ one another
in a circle, and that’s exactly the present structure of benzene. And it is good to
know that benzene is the fundamental parent substance for thousands
chemical products.
of
Since it is the function of every experiment to test the validity of a scientific
guess, the fourth step of the scientific method is experimentation.

4. Experimentation
You might be aware by now that answers without evidence are really
unsupported opinions. Experimentation can provide the necessary evidence and
anyone who experiments after guessing at answers becomes truly ‘scientific’ in
his approach.
Experimentation is by far the hardest part of the scientific method. There are
no rules to follow; each experiment is a case unto itself. Technically, knowledge
and experience usually help. Making a correct decision on the means by which a
hypothesis might best be tested shows the difference between a genius and an
amateur (‘The nature of science’).
Can you think of how the young student in our hypothetical example would
gather evidence in order to refute or confirm his hypotheses? Let us examine the
two hypotheses regarding the young man’s observation of pale yellowing leaves
of maize seedlings. The first hypothesis to explain the observation was that the
yellowing was due to the variety of maize germinating. A simple way to test that
hypothesis is to collect various varieties of maize, put them in the dark cupboard
and observe the results. All the varieties will be found to have produced the
same pale yellow leaves. The other hypothesis, which states that the exclusion of
light produced the pale yellow leaves effect, can also be easily tested. This is
done by germinating a batch of seeds in the dark and another batch in a well-lit

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condition. The well-lit condition serves as the control. It provides a standard of
reference for assessing the results of the experimental series. It would be found
that the seedlings in the dark would be pale yellow while those in a well-lit
condition would have the normal green colour (Olorode and Kloh: 2000). What
do you think gives the green colour in plants?

Exercise 2.2
1. The main function of a hypothesis is to predict (a) ————————or (b)
—— ————
2. The German chemist called —————————— discovered the structure
of benzene.
3. A scientific approach to explain various aspects of the natural world includes
all of the following except
(a) hypothesis.
(b) testing.
(c) faith and simple consensus.
(d) systematic observation.
The next step after experimentation is the conclusion.

5. Conclusion
We shall again illustrate this step with our hypothetical example above. The test
of the first hypothesis leads us to reject that hypothesis while our test of the
second hypothesis leads us to accept the second (alternative) hypothesis. Thus
our respective conclusions are: (1) Yellowing of the leaves was not due to the
variety of maize germinating. (2) Exclusion of light caused the yellowing of the
leaves. Scientific conclusions can be redefined, modified and clarified when the
situation arises. Some other conclusions may even be overthrown and discarded.
For instance, the young man who observed the pale yellow leaves of maize
seedlings may want to find out if the same result will be obtained with seedlings
of other plants. He may also observe that in a large maize farm, some rare
seedlings which lack green pigments completely, may exist. This will lead him
to modify his original conclusion. He may add that ‘other factors besides lack of
light may cause yellowing of leaves’.
The final step of the scientific method is theory formulation.

6. Theory formulation
What is a theory? Would you be able to attempt an answer? If you cannot, here
is the definition: A scientific theory is an explanation about the cause or causes
of a broad range of related phenomena. It differs from a scientific hypothesis in
its breadth of application (Starr and Taggart: 1992).
A theor y is usually proposed when a hypothesis has been supported by really
convincing evidence. This evidence must be obtainable in many different
laboratories and by many independent researchers.
Theories are open to tests, revisions, and tentative acceptance or rejection.
As soon as new information is observed in the course of applying the theory,
such existing or established theory is revised. Thus, a new theory emerges to

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 replace the existing one. This is a guarantee for the development of science and
human knowledge. But you must note that old theories do not become incorrect
but merely become obsolete (‘The nature of science’).
The figure below illustrates the process of the scientific method:

There is something very important which you have to know concerning

figure 1.2. In real life situations, the scientific method does not really work as
structured in that figure. In other words, you don’t have to complete one step
before beginning the next one. In practice, you may go back to an earlier step or
work on several steps simultaneously. But for you to be sure that your final
conclusion is right, all steps must be completed.

Exercise 2.3

15
 1. ————————————— is an explanation about the cause or
causes of a broad range of related phenomena.
2. When does a new theory emerge to replace an existing one?

3.2 How it works in real life

We have just gone through the process of the scientific method. How do you
think it can work in real life? Let’s suppose that you wake up one night with a
skin rash (observation) (Moore, McCann and McCann: 1974). You want to
know what caused this rash (causal question). You first try to figure out how
this situation is similar to other known situations. Perhaps a classmate of yours
had a similar rash that was caused by an allergy to the
grass at a close by football field. You realise that your rash has appeared after all
the football games that you have played on that field. The similarity (analogy)
between your friend’s allergy and your rash leads to the explanation
(hypothesis) that your rash is caused by an allergy to the grass, too.
If your hypothesis is correct, you would not expect to get a rash from other
kinds of grass (prediction). When you play football on several other fields, all
with a different kind of grass than your nearby football field (experiment), you
do not get a rash (results). Your results match the prediction of the grass–allergy
hypothesis from which you decide that your rash is caused by the grass at a
nearby football field (conclusion).
However, if this was your only hypothesis, you have not actually identified
the cause. Perhaps your rash was caused by fertilizers, pesticides, bacteria,
fungi or other agents associated with the grass or soil at one football field
and not another. By testing a single hypothesis, you have not ruled out any
of these other possibilities. To do so, you would have to devise alternative
hypotheses, make predictions from them and obtain experimental results to
compare with the predictions. By this process, you may be able to reject
some but not all of the alternatives, or you may be able to
hypotheses,
reject all even the grass–allergy hypothesis. Either way, you make
progress by testing several hypotheses, not just one.
If you can reject all with the exception of the grass–allergy hypothesis, you
can more confidently conclude that the grass caused your rash. Furthermore, you
may decide not to play in that particular field again so that you can avoid the
irritating plant (use of new knowledge).
You may agree with me that all of this seems like common sense, which it
is. The use of the scientific method is not restricted to scientists. For example in
1820 at New Jersey, U.S.A. a colonel named Robert Johnson used the scientific
method to disprove the belief that tomatoes were poisonous (Moore, McCann
and McCann: 1974). He bravely climbed the steps of a city courthouse and ate a
basketful of tomatoes. This action greatly amazed the 2000 townspeople who
thought that tomatoes were poisonous. His bold experiment and its result (his
survival) proved the townspeople wrong.
A principle characteristic of scientific thinking is that the sequence of
observing, hypothesising, experimenting, concluding and interpreting is a cycle,

16
 with new ideas produced at every step. To the curious scientific person, a
conclusion or a theory is never the final answer. There is always something
more to study, something new to learn. Can you be such a person?
Exercise 2.4
Tr y using the scientific method to solve a hypothetical life problem.

3.3 How it has worked in science

You have seen in section 3.2 how the scientific method works in a real life
situation. In this section, one example will be used to illustrate how a real
scientist made an important discovery by using the method. In the
(Beveridge: 1970), it was reported that in certain parts of Great Britain and
1950s
Western Australia there used to occur a nervous disease of sheep known as
‘swayback’ (observation) . The cause of this disease baffled investigators for
years (causal question). In Western Australia, a scientist known as H. W.
Bennetts for certain reasons suspected that the cause of the disease might be lead
poisoning (hypothesis formulation). To test this hypothesis he treated some
afflicted sheep with ammonium chloride, which is the antidote to lead
(experiment). The first trial with this chemical gave promising results that
enabled the sheep to recover a little. However, subsequent trials or tests did not
confirm this first result (observation and non-confirmation of Hypothesis 1). A
question then arose, ‘Why did the initial treatment with ammonium chloride
give some relief to the sheep?’ (causal question).
This suggested to Bennetts that the cause of the disease might be
deficiency
the of some mineral which was present in small quantities in the first
batch of ammonium chloride (Hypothesis 2). Bennetts went ahead to find out the
constituents of the ammonium chloride (experiment). He found out that ‘copper’
was present in the ammonium chloride in small amounts as an impurity. When
afflicted sheep were given pure copper mineral they recovered from the disease.
He then concluded that the disease was due to deficiency of copper (conclusion
– confirmation of Hypothesis 2). A deficiency of copper was never previously
known to produce disease in any animal. So by using the scientific method,
Bennetts contributed to science the information that a deficiency of copper can
cause disease in an animal.
According to the report, Bennetts stated that ‘the solution of this problem came
in Western Australia from an accidental “lead” (clue) resulting from the testing
of a false hypothesis’. In other words, by testing a false hypothesis, which stated
that ‘the cause of swayback disease was lead poisoning’, the true hypothesis
came to limelight and the right answer was found. In the next section, creative
and critical thinking will be discussed briefly. Read that section very well and if
you are interested in knowing more about the topic the following reading may
be of assistance to you:
Moore, W. E., H. McCann and J. McCann (1974) Creative and
Thinking, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.
Critical

3.4 Creative and Critical thinking

17
We live in a complex but rapidly changing society, in which we have to make
simple or difficult decisions every minute of our lives. Such decisions might be
vital to both our own and other people’s health, success and happiness. How
well the decisions turn out to be will depend in part on the procedures
thinking
of we use (Moore, McCann and McCann: 1974).
The importance of the scientific method of thinking is richly illustrated by
the history of science. You will learn about this in units 5–8. Until
seventeenth century, science progressed quite slowly. In the last three centuries,
the
procedures of thinking, the scientific method which we have just discussed,
evolved. Its use has been responsible to a large extent for the impressive success
of modern science in discovering the secrets of the universe, as well as in
developing solutions to technological problems. Many of our most serious
problems can be lessened or even solved by the application of these techniques.
Progress in solving most human problems has lagged far behind progress in
science. Most human problems cannot, of course, be taken to the laboratory to
be worked on, and some aspects of the scientific method may not apply to these
problems. However, a large body of evidence confirms that effective methods of
thinking can be of great value in solving everyday human problems (Moore,
McCann and McCann: 1974).
The procedures of science (the scientific method), which you have just
learnt, require two distinctly different kinds of thinking, creative thinking and
critical thinking. Creative thinking may be defined as the formation of possible
solutions to a problem or possible explanations of a phenomenon.
thinking, on the other hand is the testing and evaluation of these proposed
Critical
solutions.
Effective thinking is both creative and critical. Indeed, both kinds
thinking
of are essential in all areas of human activity. In diagnosing an illness for
example, a physician first develops possible diagnoses that seem to fit the
symptoms. He then evaluates them by further examination of the patient or by
laboratory tests. The final diagnoses cannot be right unless the possible
diagnoses include the right one. Even when the possible diagnoses do include
the right one, the physician may still make a mistake by being careless in
criticising them and settling on the wrong one.
If you have understood the scientific method discussed in section 3.1, you would
agree that it is both creative and critical. Outside the laboratory, however, both
scientists and laypersons tend to be careless about both creative and critical
aspects of thinking. When our feelings are aroused, we are likely to act first and
think only after it is too late. Thus to ‘create’ and ‘criticise’ are the twin
watchwords of the effective thinker.
The general process for applying creative and critical thinking to
problem
any can be described as a cycle of six phases. You have already studied
these phases in section 3.1. This cycle should not be treated as a rigid procedure
in which each phase must be completed before the next is begun. In practice,
you may go back to an earlier phase or work on several phases at the same time.
But if you are to have any real assurance that your final decision is sound, all

18
 phases must be completed. Why don’t you begin now to practise using this cycle
(that is, the scientific method)?
You should know that every phase of decision-making is strongly affected
by the fact that each one of us sees both the world and ourselves from our own
personal point of view. This can interfere with objectivity, which is
important to effective thinking. How effective our thinking is depends partly on
very
how objective we are in viewing ourselves and the world without bias. However,
absolute objectivity is impossible because we observe the world only through
the lens of our own point of view.
You should keep in mind two essential things for objectivity. The first is to
concentrate on the pursuit of truth in all the problems you take up, no matter
how unpleasant or threatening it may be. Science has a system of punishing
failures of objectivity, but in human setting, you must develop your own sense
of discipline. The second element in objectivity is to be open to your feelings.
Exclude them when they are not relevant and include them when they are, and
you must be able to discern the difference.
It should now be clear to you that perfection in thinking cannot be attained.
Effectiveness is the important thing. Also a satisfactory solution to every
problem is too much to expect. The person who expects to solve every problem
and make the right decisions every time is unrealistic. Effective thinking, like
laying a musical instrument, requires practice. This is important both for
understanding the techniques fully and for developing skill in applying
them. What stops you from practicing now?

4.0 CONCLUSION
This unit has introduced you to the scientific method of acquiring knowledge.
You must have also learnt how it can be applied to solve real life problems and
scientific problems. Thus the method is useful to every human being, whether a
scientist or a non-scientist.

5.0 Sum mary

The main points in this unit are:
1. The steps of the scientific method are:
(a) Observation. It can be direct or indirect, spontaneous or induced.
Scientific observation must be repeatable.
(b) Problem definition. This involves question asking about the observation
made. Scientific questions must be relevant and testable.
(c) Hypothesis formulation. It involves guessing or proposing answers to the
questions posed.
(d) Experimentation. Answers without evidence are unsupported opinions.
Thus experimentation provides the necessary evidence for accepting or
rejecting the proposed answer.
(e) Conclusion. It can be redefined, modified and clarified when the
situation arises.
(f) Theory formulation. This will be the main topic of discussion in the next
unit.

19
2. The scientific method is both creative and critical. Thus it can be
used to develop effective thinking, which is ver y necessary
for solving both scientific and real life problems.

Answers to exercises
Exercise 2.1
1 (a) spontaneous (b) induced
2 (a) relevant (b) testable

Exercise 2.2
1 (a) new experiments (b) new observations
2. Kekulé
3. (c)

Exercise 2.3
1. A scientific theory
2. A new theory replaces an old one when new information is observed
while applying the old one.

6.0 Tutor-marked assignment

1. List sequentially the steps of the scientific method.
2. Discuss briefly what each step involves.

7.0 References and f urther reading

Beveridge, W. I. B. (1970) The Art of Scientific Investigation, Heinemann

Educational Books Ltd, London.
Moore, R., W. D. Clark, K. R. Stern and D. Vodopich (1995) Botany,
Wm. C. Brown Publishers, Dubuque.
Moore, W. E., H. McCann and J. McCann (1974) Creative and Critical
Thinking, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.
Olorode, O. and H. C. Kloh (2000) Variety of Forms in the Plant Kingdom,
Bolakay Colour Prints and Publishers, Ile–Ife.
Starr, C. And R. Taggart (1992) Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life
(6th Edition), Wadsworth Publishing Company Inc., California.
Unidentified author, ‘The nature of science’.

20
Module 1 Unit 3: Basic scientific theories

Table of contents

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.1 What is a scientific theory?
3.2 Theories of evolution
3.2.1 Evolution before Darwin
3.2.2 Darwin and modern evolutionary thought
3.2.3 Evolution after Darwin
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-marked assignment (TMA)
7.0 References and further reading

1.0 Introduction
In unit 2, the scientific method — a process of acquiring knowledge about nature —
was discussed. If you will recall, the process involves a sequence of steps, which
are: observation, problem definition, hypothesis formulation, experimentation,
conclusions and theory formulation. The material in this unit will explain to you in
detail what a scientific theor y means and also list some of the basic scientific
theories. Emphasis in this unit will be on the theories of evolution. This topic is
important because it will expose you to the different views people, right from the
beginning of recorded history, have held about how life began and how the great
variety of earth’s organisms came to be. It is expected of you that at the end of the
unit, you will have achieved the objectives listed below.

2.0 Objectives
After studying this unit you should be able to:
1. Define clearly a scientific theory.
2. List clearly three characteristics of a scientific theory.
3. Identify three events that led to the revival of discussion on evolution
4. Describe briefly evolution by natural selection.
5. Explain concisely how other fields of inquiry have led to a better
understanding of the mechanism of evolution.

3.1 What is a scientif ic theory?

Would you be able to recall the definition given in unit 2? If so, well done! As
was stated in that unit, a scientific theory is an explanation about the cause or

21
 causes of a broad range of related phenomena (Starr and Taggart: 1992).
A theor y explains how things are related or their common properties.
Scientific research (using the scientific method) leads to the accumulation of
facts about nature. As the facts accumulate, organizing them into higher
knowledge becomes imperative. This is because our minds require a
rationalised, logically consistent body of knowledge to help retain and use
information (Beveridge: 1970).
To help in the organisation, a working hypothesis is usually required. Thus,
theories start as hypotheses or tentative formulations meant to explain the
phenomenon under investigation. When a hypothesis is confirmed through
experimentation, it becomes a theory. Theories take various forms, which may
be as diagrams, equations, statistical and propositional formulations.
A theory is formulated in such a way that its range of application is
indicated (Nwala: 1997). It says, ‘given such and such conditions’, any
phenomena, which satisfy those conditions, are subject to the theory under
reference. Let’s take for instance that a new drug called ‘Relief tablets’ against
bacterial disease ‘X’ is manuf actur ed in Nigeria [‘The nature of science’ (see p.
29)]. To test the effectiveness of that drug, Nigerian patients of different ages,
sex, eating habits, hereditary background, etc, are used. Additionally, the
experiment is carried out under specified hospital conditions with proper
allowance for unspotted errors and with different
doses of the drug. At the end of the experiment the drug might be found to have
an effectiveness of 60% against the bacteria. If this result is confirmed by many
independent researchers in different localities, a theory may be proposed.
The theory might state that ‘in bacterial disease X, “Relief tablets” are
effective in 60 per cent of the cases’.
This statement is very much broader than the experiment on which it is based,
and theories are always like that. The statement has not given any limitations in
terms of who manufactures the drug, where it is manufactured, where it can be
used and whom it can be used on. Therefore that statement implies, for example,
that ‘Relief tablets’, no matter who manufactures it, will be 60% effective
anywhere in the world, under any conditions and can be used for both man and
other animals.
You can understand that direct evidence for the added implications does
not exist. But so far as ‘Relief tablets’ is already known to work within certain
limits, the theory expresses the belief, the probability that it may also work
within certain wider limits.
Every good theory therefore has a predictive value. It prophesies certain
results. Scientific prophecies always have a considerate amount of evidence to
back them up. Additionally, a scientific prophecy does not say that something
will certainly happen, it only says that something is likely to happen and with a
stated degree of probability. Theories that have proved to be universally valid
and have a high degree of probability are called natural laws. You will learn
about these in unit 4. Laws also do not pronounce certainties.
In conclusion, theories enable us to explain, predict and control
phenomena. They also provide us with a new way of looking at a familiar object

22
 or phenomenon. The theory of optics, for instance, provides us with a new way
of looking at the phenomenon of light (Nwala: 1997). Before this theory was
discovered, people thought of light in the form of patches, shades of colour, etc.
With the theory of optics, people’s way of looking at light changed. Light is now
viewed as travelling (propagation) and this gives room for explaining a wider
range of phenomena than the old way of looking at light.
Since the advent of modern science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
AD, many scientific theories have been proposed. These include the theory of
universal gravitation, the theory of evolution by natural selection, atomic theor y,
genetic theory, relativity theory, quantum theory, etc. The theories of evolution
will be discussed in the next section.

Exercise 3.1
Test yourself with the following questions:
1. What is a scientific theory?
2. Theories enable us to (a) —————————, (b) ————————
and (c) phenomena.
3. Examples of scientific theories include (a) ————————————, (b)
————————— (c) ————————and (d)
——————————————.

3.2 Theories of evolution

3.1.1 Evolution before Darwin

Ever since the beginning of recorded history, man has speculated on the origin
of life. In ancient times, it was generally believed that organisms originated
spontaneously from non-living matter. Thus, the ancient Egyptians believed that
rats came from garbage. Renaissance scientists knew better than this, but in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries AD, it was widely believed that bacteria
(microorganisms discovered in 1676) originated spontaneously. It was only in
1862 that Louis Pasteur disproved, once and for all, the theory of spontaneous
generation (Roberts: 1971).
Have you ever wondered how the earth came to be populated by a great
variety of organisms? The search for explanations has proved to be challenging.
The answers have been found to point to one direction — to evolution, which
means the progressive change of living things through time.
The idea of evolution was not originated by Darwin in the nineteenth century
as some people think (Raven and Johnson: 1986). Some ancient philosophers
observed that organisms ranged from very simple to relatively complex ones.
Each group of organisms, according to them, was created by God. Modern
individuals of each group trace their ancestry to the individual created by God.
The Judeo–Christian culture also promoted such thinking.
Most early scientists believed fully that each kind of organism with all of its
individual adaptations was created by God. They studied these organisms, their

23
 structures, and the relationships between them as a way of learning more about
the creator. In the seventeenth century, for example, the English scientist–
clergyman, John Ray (1627–1705) clearly declared his belief that each kind of
animal and plant had remained unchanged from the day it was created (Raven
and Johnson: 1986). All these views are collectively known as the doctrine of
fixed species or creationism. It was never convincingly challenged before
Darwin (Moore et al: 1995).
During Darwin’s time, biology was dominated by natural theology. The
natural theologians believed that the variations and adaptations of organisms
proved that each species was fashioned by God for a particular purpose. Besides
they believed that the earth was only a few thousand years old. For them, this
was not long enough for significant evolutionary change. What is your own
view? Do you believe in the theory of spontaneous generation or in the doctrine
of fixed species? What are your reasons?
Gradually, some discoveries led to the revival of discussions on evolution.
These include:
1. The discovery of many more kinds of organisms by the first part of the
eighteenth century (Raven and Johnson: 1986).
2. The study of fossils which was begun in the eighteenth century by Georges
Cuvier (Moore et al: 1995). Fossils as you might be aware are
remains or body impressions of dead organisms that lived in the
past. They are usually found within sedimentary rocks, which
occur in layers. Cuvier, from his studies, found that different
layers of the rocks held different kinds of fossils. Also the fossils
appeared in chronological order that is the deeper the layer,
the older the fossil it contains. To him, these observations seemed to be
boundaries for dramatic change in ancient environments.
His attempt to explain these changes came to be known as catastrophism
(Starr and Taggart: 1992).

Exercise 3.2
1. The belief that rats originated from garbage is an example of (a) —
——— ——————— theory, and (b)
—————————— people held such a belief.
2. The view that each kind of animal and plant has remained unchanged
from the day it was created is known as (a)
———————————— — or (b) —— ———————————
3. Examples of proponents of such a view are (a) ————————
——— — (b) —————————
I hope you have understood the narration so far. Let us continue with the events
that led to the revival of discussions on evolution:
1. From 1707–1788, a French biologist named Georges-Louis Comte de
Buffon studied many mammals and observed that all of them
common hadfeatures. He then suggested that these could be explained in
terms of their evolution from a common ancestor.

24
 2. In 1795, a geologist, James Hutton argued that the earth was older than a
few t housand years (Moore et al: 1995). His hypothesis was based on
the fact that he believed that sedimentary rocks that encased fossils were
formed by the gradual accumulation of sediments in lakes, rivers and
oceans. This idea is known as gradualism. His explanation indicated that
the earth was millions rather than thousands of years old.
Catastrophists such as Cuvier and gradualists like Hutton and Lyell
(1797–1895) were good geologists (Moore et al: 1995). They were
convinced of an ancient earthbut they found it difficult to explain the
appearance and disappearance of species in the fossil record. They were all
creationists. Lyell, in particular attributed the gradual addition of new
species to the earth’s flora and fauna to an unspecified creator.
3. In 1809, the year Charles Darwin was born, Jean Baptiste de Lamarck
(1744– 1829) proposed that all species, including human beings were
descended from other species (Moore et al: 1995; Raven and
Johnson: 1986). He believed that life changed progressively from the
simple to the more complex. He was the first naturalist to present a
unified theory that attempted to explain the changes in organisms from one
generation to the next.
Lamarck’s explanations were based on the theory of inheritance of
acquired
characteristics, which he propounded. The theory states that ‘changes
acquired during an individual’s life are brought about by environmental
pressure and internal “desires” and that offspring inherit the desired
changes’ (Starr and Taggart: 1992).
Have you heard of an animal called giraffe? If your answer is yes, do you
know why it has a long neck? Lamarck’s theory explained it as
Suppose
follows: the ancestor of the modern giraffe was a short-necked animal. Pressed
by the need to find food, this animal constantly stretched its neck to feed on the
leaves on high tree branches. According to Lamarck, stretching increased the
length of the neck and this acquired characteristic was passed to its offspring.
These offspring in turn stretched their necks to reach higher leaves. Thus
generations of animals desiring to reach higher leaves led to the modern giraffe.
Using similar reasoning, he also proposed that the use and disuse of a feature
governed the fate of that feature in successive generations (Moore et al: 1995).
According to him organs of the body that were used extensively to cope with the
environment became larger and stronger, while organs that were not used
deteriorated.
Presently, scientists know that the mechanism he proposed for changes was
wrong. Acquired characteristics cannot be inherited. His theories, however,
stimulated people’s interest in evolution. As a result of this, the stage was then
set for the acceptance of the much simpler explanation that was developed by
Darwin half a century later (Raven and Johnson: 1989).
Darwin’s greatest contribution was the laying of the foundation for an
evolutionary theory by noting that species change over time and the
environment is a factor in that change (Starr and Taggart: 1992).

25
Exercise 3.3
You should be able to answer the following questions, to test your progress in
studying this material:
1. The observation that distinct layers of rocks reveal sequences of —
——— —— —————— showing gradual changes in
structure supports the hypothesis that species evolve.
2. Match the following individuals and ideas by filling in the correct letter
in the space provided.

Individuals Ideas

————————Judeo–Christians (a) Gradualism

————————Cuvier (b)All mammals have common
features
———————— Lamarck (c) Catastrophism
———————— Buffon (d) Doctrine of fixed species
———————— Hutton (e) Inheritance of acquired traits

3.2.2 Darwin and modern evolutionary thought

In this section, you will learn about Darwin’s ideas on evolution. His ideas have
had a great impact on a wide array of human endeavours than any
scientific advancement of the past 150 years (Moore et al: 1995). His research
other
work on evolution provided the first scientific explanation for the diversity of
life. His explanation of how evolution works has attracted more controversy
than most scientific ideas. This is because it has affected not only science but
also philosophy, religion and human attitudes.

Charles Robert Darwin (1809–18882) was an English naturalist. At the age of

eight, his interest in observing the natural world was manifested. At that age, he
was an enthusiastic but haphazard collector of shells. At ten, his interest shifted
to the habits of insects and birds (Starr and Taggart: 1992). At fifteen, he
preferred hunting, fishing and observing the natural world to doing his
schoolwork. At the university, he could not complete his study of medicine,
because that was not his area of interest. He later graduated from Cambridge
University as a clergyman but was still interested in natural history.
At the age of 22, one of his professors at Cambridge University, John
Henslow arranged for him to take part in a training expedition led by an eminent
geologist. Henslow had earlier noticed and respected Darwin’s real interest in
natural history. He therefore arranged that he be offered the position of naturalist
in the ship they were about to sail in. Do you know that right from the 1770s
naturalists had always been posted on all British voyages to distant lands? The
aim was to gather more knowledge of nature to add to the store of human
knowledge (Raven and Johnson: 1989; Starr and Taggart: 1992).
The ship they boarded was called H.M.S. Beagle. The main aim of the
voyage was to complete an earlier work of mapping the coastline of South

26
 America. While on the expedition, Darwin had chances to study many diverse
forms of life on the islands where they stopped, near mountain ranges and along
rivers. He returned to England in 1836, after nearly five years at sea and he
began a long life of study and contemplation.

Exercise 3.4
1. Charles Darwin was born in (a) —————————— and died in
(b) ————————————.
2. At what age was he a collector of shells?
3. He graduated from (a) ———————————— University as a
(b) —————————————
4. Who arranged for him to be a naturalist aboard H.M.S. Beagle?
—————————————
5. (a) At what age did he leave for the voyage?
(b) At what age did he return to England?
Let’s continue from where we stopped. When Darwin came back to
England, the question that disturbed him was, ‘What could explain the
remarkable diversity among organisms?’ Luckily, field observations he had
made during his voyage enabled him later to recognise two clues that pointed to
the answer (Starr and Taggart: 1992).
First, while the coast of Argentina was being mapped, he repeatedly got
off the ship for exploratory trips inland. On these trips, he made detailed field
observations and collected fossils. He saw for the first time many unusual
species, including an armadillo.
Among the fossils were remains of the now extinct glyptodonts.
Glyptodonts were very large animals that closely resembled the living
armadillos. This is shown in figure 1.3.

Darwin became puzzled and started wondering: If both kinds of animals

had been created at the same time, if they lived in the same part of the world,
and if they were so much alike, then why were armadillos still moving about

27
while the glyptodonts were long gone and buried (Starr and Taggart: 1992)?
Nothing else in the world resembled either animal. Although nobody including
Darwin had ever seen one species evolve into another, he later wondered
whether armadillos were descendants of glyptodonts.
Second, he had observed that populations of similar kinds of organisms
that lived in different geographic regions often showed remarkable differences
in some of their traits (that is, characteristics). For instance, Darwin saw giant
land tortoises on the Galapagos Islands which were off the coast of Ecuador. To
his surprise, all the tortoises were not identical. It was recorded that even natives
of those islands and the sailors could tell which island a particular animal had
come from just by looking at it (Raven and Johnson: 1989). Darwin reasoned
that perhaps all those species descended from the same ancestral form and had
become slightly modified after they became isolated on different islands.
Darwin again wondered how such modification could occur. He got a clue
from a book published by Thomas Malthus in 1798. The title of the book was
‘Essay on the Armadillo Glyptodont principles of population’. According to
Malthus, ‘any population tends to outgrow its resources and its members must
compete for what is available’. This statement struck Darwin and he thought
about all the populations he had observed during his voyage. He thought about
how the individual members of those populations had differences in body size,
form, colouring and other traits. It then dawned on him that some traits could
lead to differences in the ability to secure scarce resources (Starr and Taggart:
1992).

Exercise 3.5
1. Mention two pieces of evidence that suggested to Darwin that evolution
occurs.
2. (a) Who wrote the book called ‘Essay on the principles of population’?
(b) In what year was it published?
3. State the main ideas in that essay.
4. How did that idea help Darwin in his study of the process of natural
selection?
As we were discussing, Darwin got a clue of how modifications could
occur from Thomas Malthus’s ‘Essay on the principles of population’. With that
clue, Darwin declared that it was natural selection, that is nature selecting the
‘fit’ and rejecting the ‘unfit’ that led to modifications in members of a species.
He described the process of natural selection as follows (Starr and Taggart:
1992):

If there were struggles for existence (competition) within a population,

then individuals that possess superior physical, behavioural or other
attributes might have an edge in surviving and reproducing. In other
words, Nature would select individuals with advantageous traits and
eliminate others — and so a population could change. Favoured
individuals would pass on the useful traits to offspring, their offspring
would do the sa me and so on. Gradually, descendants of the favoured

28
 individuals would make up most of the population, and less favoured
individuals might have no descendants at all.

Darwin published his work in 1859 and it caused an immediate sensation.

Many people were very disturbed because the theor y implied that humans
probably evolved from apes, monkeys, etc, since all share similar characteristics.
Surprisingly, in 1858, Darwin received an essay from a young English
naturalist named Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913). The essay was on ‘Theory
of evolution by means of natural selection’! What a coincidence! Both of them
had independently reached the same conclusion about evolution. However,
Darwin was given the credit of propounding the theory because of the amount of
evidence he marshalled out.
Thus, Darwin’s theory of evolution is one of the main unifying themes of
the biological sciences. It provides an explanation for three main sets of facts
about life on earth, which we observe (Rutherford and Ahlgren: 1988). These
are:
1. The incredible display of different types of living things we see about us.
2. The different degrees of likeness among the living things. The likeness
could be anatomical or molecular.
3. The fossil record that shows a sequence in the kinds of organisms that
have lived on earth over billions of years.
At the heart of the theory of evolution is the concept of natural selection. That
means, natural selection is the mechanism that results in evolution.
However, Darwin’s theory still faced a crucial test which worried him. It
did not explain the mechanism of heredity – that is the way desirable traits or
characteristics were transmitted to offspring. You will read about the solution to
this problem in the next section.

Exercise 3.6
1. Two keen observers of nature who outlined the theory of evolution by
natural selection were
(a) Cuvier and Lamarck.
(b) Darwin and Wallace.
(c) Buffon and Darwin.
(d) Malthus and Lyell.
2. Natural selection may occur when there are
(a) heritable traits.
(b) variations in traits within a population.
(c) adaptive traits.
(d) differences in survival and reproduction among members of a
population.
(e) all of the above.

3. 2. 3 Evolution after Darwin

Before Darwin’s death in 1882 and even after his death, many important
discoveries have been made and these have led to a better understanding of the
mechanism of evolution. These discoveries were made in other fields of inquiry

29
such as paleontology, genetics, biochemistry, embryology, geology and ecology.
You will learn about the contributions of the first three fields in this section.

Darwin before his death predicted that the fossil record should yield
intermediate links between the great groups of organisms. I believe you know
the great groups of organisms? They are fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and
mammals. Paleontologists (those who study fossils) confirmed this prediction
two years after Darwin’s book was published. In 1861, an early bird-reptile
called archaeopteryx was discovered. It resembled reptiles and birds. This is
shown in figure 1.4. Like fossils of small two legged reptiles, it had teeth and a
long bony tail. Like modern birds, its body was covered with feathers (Starr and
Taggart: 1992).

Discoveries of microscopic fossils by paleontologists have extended back

the known history of life on earth to more than 3.5 billion years. The discovery
of other fossils has shed light on the ways in which organisms have evolved
from the simple to the complex over the course of this enormous time span. The
evolution of the major groups of vertebrates and their relationships to
another have become reasonably well understood since their bones and teeth are
one
often seen in the fossil record (Starr and Taggart: 1992).

30
 Among the most important developments in evolutionary biology since
Darwin is the application of genetics to the theory of evolution by natural
selection. Genetics is the science of inheritance. If you would recall from section
3.2.2, Darwin was worried because his theory could not explain how parents
pass on their characteristics to offspring. In the early part of the
century, Gregor Mendel’s laws of inheritance were rediscovered. Scientists
twentieth
found that those laws accounted for the origin of new variations in organisms
and how these variations were passed on from parents to their offspring.
Biochemistry is the science that examines the chemical processes and
substances that occur in living things. Its techniques are being used
understand evolution better (Raven and Johnson: 1989). Would you know how
to
this is done? Samples of the same kind of protein are obtained from different
organisms. Then biochemical tools are used to determine the sequences
amino acids in those protein samples. Individuals, populations, species and even
of
larger groups have sequences that are characteristic of them. When
sequences are compared for, let’s say, 10 different species, their degree of
these
relationship can be specified precisely.
The following information might interest you very much (The Guardian:
2001):

An international team of scientists from Australia, Great Britain

and the United States found that human evolution is still
operating according to the forces of natural selection which was
first identified by Charles Darwin. The main findings of the
study are that:
1. Natural selection is leading women to have the first child
earlier in life.
2. This tendency is partly inherited.
3. As a result, evolution is leading to an increasing
biological pressure on women to start families earlier than
later.

In the study, Roman Catholic women are found to have a 20% higher
‘reproductive fitness’ than women of other religions. University
educated women, on the other hand, had 35% lower fitness than
those who left school early. The study, however, found that such
cultural influences could not explain all reproductive differences
between women. Dr Owens, a member of the research team from
Imperial College, London said that it was surprising to find that
genes played almost as much of a role in deciding these issues as
religion or social class. Genes were found to explain about 43% of
the differences in age of first child within the female population.
Their next step according to Dr Owens is to try to discover what
these genes are.

Exercise 3.7

31
 1. Fields of inquiry which have contributed to a better understanding of
the mechanism of evolution include:
(a) ———————————————————— (b)
———————— —— ——————————
(c) ———————————————————— and (d) ——————
—————————————
2. An intermediate link between bird-reptiles called (a) ————————
————— was discovered in the year (b)
————————————
3. ———————————— is the science which explains how
characteristics are passed on from parents to offspring.

4.0 Conclusion
In this unit you have learnt what a scientific theory really means and its various
characteristics. You have also been introduced to the various ideas on evolution
before Darwin proposed his own theory. It is good to be aware that Darwin’s
theory of evolution by natural selection is one of the most comprehensive
themes in biology. This is because it explains how life began and how
diversified into the organisms of today. If you had thought that human evolution
it
had stopped as a result of improvements in diets, housing and medicine, you
would have been pleasantly surprised with the information in section 3.2.3. This
shows that science is never finished. It is a dynamic activity.
5.0 Sum mary
The main points in this unit include the following:
1. A scientific theory is an explanation about the cause or causes of a broad range
of related phenomena. A theory explains how things are related or their
common properties.
2. Theories take various forms, which may be as diagrams, equations, statistical
and prepositional formulations.
3. A theor y is formulated in such a way that its range of application is indicated.
4. Every good theory has a predictive value.
5. Theories enable us to explain, predict and control phenomenon.
6. They also provide us with a new way of looking at a familiar object or
phenomena
7. Scientific theories include the theory of universal gravitation, the theory of
evolution by natural selection, atomic theory, relativity theory, quantum
theory, etc.
8. Theories of evolution propounded before Darwin include the theory of
spontaneous generation and the doctrine of fixed species or creationism.
9. Events that led to the revival of discussions on evolution include:
(a) The discovery of many more kinds of organisms by the first part of
the eighteenth century.
(b) The study of fossils which showed that layers of sedimentary rocks
held different kinds of fossils. The fossils also appear in
chronological order – the deeper the layer, the older the fossil it
contains.

32
 (c) Comte de Buffon’s observation that all mammals he studied had
common features.
(d) James Hutton’s hypothesis that sedimentary rocks that encased
fossils were formed by the gradual accumulation of sediments in
lakes, rivers and oceans — thus indicating that the earth was millions
rather than thousands of years old.
(e) The proposition of de Lamarck’s theory of inheritance of acquired
characteristics.
10. Some of Darwin’s pieces of evidence that evolution occurs include
the following:
(a) Extinct species, such as the glyptodonts shown in figure 1.3 most
closely resemble the living armadillos in the same area, suggesting
that one had given rise to the other.
(b) Layers of sedimentary rock held different kinds of fossils and they
appeared in chronological order.
(c) Populations of similar kinds of organisms that lived in different
geographic regions often showed noticeable differences in some of
their characteristics. For instance, the giant land tortoises on the
Galapagos Islands were not identical; thus indicating to Darwin that
all those species might have descended from the same ancestral form
but had become slightly modified after they became isolated on
different islands.
11. Darwin got a clue as to how those modifications could occur from
Thomas Malthus’s ‘Essay on the principles of population’.
12. With the aid of those pieces of evidence and the clue from Malthus,
Darwin declared that it was natural selection, that is, nature selecting the
‘fit’ and rejecting the ‘unfit’ that led to modifications in members of a
species. That means that natural selection is the mechanism that leads to
evolution. Thus Darwin’s theory consists of two major parts (a)
concept of evolutionary change, and (b) the concept of natural selection.
the
13. Darwin’s theory, however could not explain how desirable characteristics
or
modifications were transmitted from parents to offspring.
14. After Darwin’s death, fields of inquiry such as paleontology, genetics,
biochemistry, embryology, geology, ecology, etc, have produced results
that have led to a better understanding of the mechanism of evolution.
15. The field of genetics, particularly, through the laws of inheritance
proposed by Gregor Mendel, has given evidence of how desirable
characteristics are transmitted from parents to offspring.

Answers to the exercises

Exercise 3.1
1. A scientific theory is an explanation about the cause or causes of a broad
range of related phenomena.
2. (a) explain (b) predict and (c) control

33
 3. (a) Atomic theory (b) Genetic theory (c) Theory of evolution by natural
selection
(d) Theory of universal gravitation, etc.

Exercise 3.2
1. (a) spontaneous generation (b) Egyptian
2. (a) doctrine of fixed species, or (b) creationism
3. (a) John Ray (b) Judeo–Christians

Exercise 3.3
1. fossils
2. d, c, e, b, a

Exercise 3.4
1. (a) 1809 (b) 1882
2. at the age of 8
3. (a) Cambridge University (b) clergyman
4. John Henslow
5. (a) 22 (b) 27

Exercise 3.5
1. (a) Extinct species, such as the glyptodonts which most closely resembled
the living armadillos in the same area.
(b) Giant land tortoises on various Galapagos Islands that were not
identical.
2. (a) Thomas Malthus
(b) 1798
3. ‘Any population tends to outgrow its resources and its members must
compete for what is available.’
4. The idea helped Darwin to suggest that the different traits such as body size,
form, colouring, etc which he observed in the populations he studied during
his voyage, could lead to differences in the ability to secure scarce resources.
Darwin then proposed that it was natural selection, that is nature selecting the
‘fit’ and rejecting the ‘unfit’ that led to modifications in members of a species.

Exercise 3.6
1. b
2. e

Exercise 3.7
1. (a) paleontology (b) genetics (c) biochemistry (d) geology etc
2. (a) archaeopteryx (b) 1861
3. genetics

6.0 Tutor-marked assignment

1. What is a scientific theory?

34
 2. List three characteristics of a scientific theory.
3. Identify three events that led to the revival of discussion on evolution.
4. Outline three of Darwin’s pieces of evidence that evolution occurs.
5. Describe briefly evolution by natural selection.
6. How have the fields of paleontology and genetics led to a better
understanding of the mechanism of evolution?

7.0 References and further reading

Beveridge, W. I. B. (1970) The Art of Scientific Investigation,
Heinemann Educational Books Ltd, London.
The Guardian, (26 April 2001) ‘Study identifies radical new directions in human
evolution,’ pp. 38–39.
Moore, R, W.D. Clark, K.R. Stern and D. Vodopich (1995). Botany, Wm. C.
Brown
Publishers, Dubuque.
Nwala, T.U. (1997) ‘Laws of nature, scientific theories and concepts’ in: Nwala
T.U. (ed.)
History and Philosophy of Science, Niger Books and Publishing Co. Ltd, Nsukka,
pp. 10–12.
Raven, P.H. and G.B. Johnson (1986) Biology, Times Mirror/Mosby College
Publishing, St. Louis.
Raven, P.H. and C.B. Johnson (1989) Biology, Times Mirror/Mosby College
Publishing, St.Louis.
Roberts, M.B.V. (1971) Biology — A functional Approach, Thomas Nelson and
Sons Ltd, Middlesex.
Rutherford, J. and A. Ahlgren (1988) ‘Rethinking the science curriculum’ in:
Brandt, R.S. (ed.)
Content of the Curriculum, Association of Supervision and Curriculum
Development (ASCD), USA, pp. 75–90.
Starr, C. and R. Taggart (1992) Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life (6th ed.)
Wadsworth Publishing Company Inc., California.
Unidentified author: ‘The nature of science’.

35
Module 1 Unit 4: Laws of nature

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.1 What is law of nature?
3.2 Belief in the uniformity of nature
3.3 The law of uniformity of nature
3.4 Law of gravitation
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summar y
6.0 Tutor-marked assignment
7.0 References and further reading

1.0 Introduction
Perhaps we should begin with some critical thinking…. Think of the sun
and the moon, how they periodically repeat their movements. Think about
when you wake up in the morning, you would first of all meet the dawn, that
is when night (which is always dark) is gradually giving way to daytime
(which is always light). Nighttime is always associated with some
difficulties such as not seeing clearly the mater ial things of nature, while
daytime gives us light which enables us to see things very well. You know
that this is what everyone of us experiences ever y time — nighttime giving
way to daytime and daytime leading us into nighttime and vice versa. Do
you know that these events are related to the daily ‘movement’ of the sun?
When the earth turns its face towards the sun, that region of the earth will
have daylight, when it turns its back, the region will have nighttime. And
you know that this is a continuous event which man has observed right from
ancient times.
This daily motion of the sun is simple to observe while the annual
motions are far more difficult to observe. Both motions are also related to
other important events that occur on earth such as the seasons. In Nigeria,
there are both the dry seasons and the rainy seasons while in European and
American countries, they have winter, spring, summer, and autumn. These
seasons as you know occur regularly, one changing into the other. Thus there
are many regularities in nature which mankind has had to recognize for

36
 survival since human beings emerged as a species. These include births and
deaths, storms and calms, the solid earth and the ever-restless seas, etc. The
pattern and regularity of these changes can be expressed as rules or laws.
These laws are called natural laws because they are derived from the natural
properties of objects and phenomena. This topic — the laws of nature — is
the topic of discussion for this unit.
You can see that it’s going to be an interesting unit. If you study it very
well, it will help you to understand a lot of natural events. And whenever
such events are being discussed you would not be a novice there.

2.0 Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
1. Outline briefly the components of the laws of nature.
2. Explain clearly the term ‘gravitation’.
3. Discuss, vividly, the law of uniformity of nature.

3.1 What is law of nature?

From the introduction, you now have an idea of what the law of nature
is. Would you be able to define it when asked to do so? The discussion in
this section will help you.
Some people believe that some regularities are figments of human
imagination. They say that the human mind leaps to conclusions because it
cannot tolerate disorder or chaos. Thus it constructs regularities even when
none objectively exists (Encyclopaedia Britannica: 1995). These true
regularities must be established by an impartial or unemotional examination
of data. Science must, therefore, employ a certain degree of doubt
criticism
or to prevent premature generalisations. Science also insists on getting
explanations of the causes of these regularities. It, however, does not permit
some kinds of causes. For instance, attributing some causes to spiritual and
divine forces is not permissible in science.
Since scientists believe that the world is comprehensible, that is,
understandable because there is order in the world, finding the causes of
these regularities wouldn’t be problematic. If you can take your mind back
to unit 3, you will remember that ‘an explanation about the cause or causes
of a broad range of related phenomena’ was called a theory. A theory
explains how things are related or their common properties.
In other words, when the properties and relationships between things are
discovered, including their pattern and regularity of changes, they are then
expressed as theories. A good theory, if you can remember from unit 3, has a
predictive value. It prophesies certain results. But scientific prophecy does
not say that something will certainly happen,
but says only that something is likely to happen with a stated degree of
probability. Thus theories that have proved to be so universally valid or true,
that is, they are true anywhere in the world and have such a high degree of
probability, are called natural laws. That means that not all theories are laws

37
 and laws also do not pronounce certainties. B ased on this can you give an
example of a natural law?
The idea of a law-governed universe assumes that the universe
uniform.
is Our ability to predict events and apply the fundamental laws of the
sciences depends on this law of uniformity. That is why J.S. Mill cited in
Nwala (1997) defined laws of nature as ‘nothing but the uniformities, which
exist among natural phenomena’. Thus, laws of nature refer to, that is,
encompass the following:
1. Those uniformities found in nature (that is uniformities in behaviour,
function, relations and properties of things).
2. Established connection of successive events which make up the
order of the universe.
3. Established theories through scientific research (Nwala: 1997).
Examples of laws of nature are:
1. Law of the uniformity of nature
2. Law of causation
3. The law of gravitation
4. The law of natural selection

3.2 Belief in the uniformity of nature

There is a general belief that the universe and all aspects of it are law-
governed and that the ordinary events or procedures of nature are uniform
(Nwala: 1997). This belief is found in primitive and traditional thought as
well as in modern scientific thought. The birth of children, death, growth,
normal and abnormal occurrences, lightning and thunder, the seasons, day
and night, etc: these phenomena are usually explained in terms of general
rules or causal laws. In traditional thought, these laws are believed to have a
spiritual and teleological character. This means that in traditional thought,
when these events occur, for instance, death, the traditionalist believes that it
was the gods who caused the death to occur and also that the death occurred
for a purpose. Teleology is a view that developments occur because of the
purpose or design they serve. Therefore, traditional people look for the
purpose for the occurrence of any event.
If a tree, for instance, breaks or a house suddenly collapses,
traditional
the mind will seek to explain such a happening in terms of the
purpose, interest and wishes of some spiritual forces. Thus, the principles,
laws or factors, which the traditional mind uses to explain the work of nature
is often speculative, that is, meditational in character. Therefore the laws or
factors may be superstitious and unreliable (Nwala: 1997).
The scientist, however, explains the work of nature in terms of material,
causal and rational factors. That means that the scientist reasons through and
tries to find the causes by means of some activity. We cannot
knowledge of anything unless we are able to show why and how it occurs.
claim
This knowledge is expressed in terms of general rules or laws. Scientific
laws are objective, factual and can be expressed in quantifiable (if you like
mathematical) form. They are independent of our subjective wishes and

38
 interests.
Therefore according to J.S. Mill cited in Nwala (1997), it is the custom
in science, wherever regularity of any kind can be traced, to call the general
statement which reveals the nature of that regularity a law.

Science establishes such laws through the steps of the scientific method.
You know that the steps include observation, problem definition, hypothesis
formulation, experimentation, conclusion and, finally, an appropriate theory
is formulated which embodies the law.
The entire universe is said to show uniform patterns and to form a united
system.

This view is called the law of the uniformity of nature. You will learn
more about this in the next section. The study of nature is the study of these
laws and uniformities, which different natural phenomena show or exhibit.
The regularities, which different phenomena exhibit, are sort of connected.
They form something like a web but they can be studied separately.

Exercise 4.1
Check the rate of your understanding of the topic so far with the following
questions:
1. Theories that have proved to be so universally valid and have such a
high degree of probability are called ————————————
2. Two examples of (1) above are (a) —————————————
and (b) ————————————
3. The laws which the traditional mind uses to explain the works of
nature are ———————in character.
4. ————————————— laws are objective, factual and can be
expressed in quantifiable forms.

3.3 The law of uniformity of nature

Men generally believe in the coherence, consistency or common pattern in
all phenomena, which can be observed and even in non-observable ones. Do
you think that includes you? This natural sequence, regularity and pattern of
behaviour of things is evidence that there is a causal order. Hence, men
believe that every event has a cause, and that for anything that happens there
must be a cause for it. It is said that like events behave alike and also have
similar causes. Belief in the uniformity of nature enables us to explain,
predict and reproduce these events, where we can (Nwala: 1997).
Induction (a type of scientific reasoning where facts are produced to
prove general statements), according to some scientists, is based on the
general law of the uniformity of nature. You will learn more about induction
in a subsequent unit. Since there is orderand regularity in the occurrence of
events, if we observe certain characteristics in a certain number of members
of a class, we can assume or conclude that all members of that class must
have the same characteristics. For example, if we know from observation

39
 that all the men we have come across are mortal (that is, they die), we then
conclude that ‘All men are mortal’. This generalisation covers all men who
have died, all those who are alive and all those
who will be born in future.
From the point of view of logic (science of reasoning), the law of the
uniformity of nature claims that nature is a system composed of many parts.
Within this system, everything happens according to rule. The law assumes
that the universe does not change and, therefore, the laws of the uniformity
of nature governing its behaviour remains constant (Nwala: 1997).
David Hume cited in Nwala (1997) has criticised our concept of
causation. He
attributes the use of the idea ‘cause’ to the habit of anticipating one event
after another because they have been associated in the past. His view is that
we cannot demonstrate the idea of causation. And also that the necessary
thing which links two events that are often associated together may not be
there. What is there is the habit of seeing one following the other and
thereby expecting that this will always be the case. For example, red and
green lights may succeed each other without causing the other. That is, red
light does not cause the green light to appear and vice versa, but they might
succeed each other, that is, one appearing after the other.
It is good for you to know that causal notions or ideas are being replaced
by statistical formulations in science.

3.4 The law of gravitation

In section 3.3 you were introduced to the law of uniformity of nature, which
is one of the natural laws. The next natural law you will learn is the law of
gravitation. What is gravitation? Gravitation is the force which pulls every
object in the universe toward every other object in the universe (Arkady:
1997). It is the force that makes a body fall through space towards the earth.
Thus the force exists between all bodies. For instance, two stones are not
only attracted towards the earth but also attract each other (Abbot: 1973).
Normally, we do not notice this force because of its smallness, although it
can be measured with sensitive instruments.
The law of gravitation first started as a theor y of universal gravitation.
The theory was first postulated by Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) an English
mathematician and physicist. He tried to explain the behaviour of falling
objects. Before this theory, mysterious interpretations had been given as the
reason why objects do fall downwards when suspended in space. The theory
was the first scientific explanation of the behaviour of falling
Newton noted that the earth possesses some force which attracts objects
objects.
towards it. This force was recognised as gravitational force. Gravitation is
the attraction between masses. This is what pulls objects around towards the
surface of the earth. Hence, all objects within the earth’s gravitational field
fall towards the earth (Nwala: 1997). Why don’t you experiment now?
Throw up any object you can lay your hands on and see what happens.

40
 Since the earth has a centre of gravity, all objects in the universe are
attracted towards this centre. It was also noted that as objects move away
from the earth, the gravitational force decreases, and their weight also
decreases. If you can remember the definition of a theory given in section
3.1, you would agree that this theor y of gravitation has turned the fictitious
idea surrounding falling objects to science. It did this by explaining
theoretically and empirically why objects behave the way they do.
Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, which was formulated in 1905,
explained the Newtonian theory properly by asserting that gravitation is a
property of space. The presence of any physical substance within space
causes it to curve in such a manner that a field of gravitational force is
created (Eneh: 2000). With this clarification by Einstein and others, the
theory was elevated to the rank of a law.
Therefore, Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that ‘any two
bodies attract each other with a force directly proportional to the product of
their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between
them’. What this whole statement means is that if the mass (amount of
matter) of one of the two attracting bodies is doubled, the gravitational
attraction will also be doubled, but if their distance apart is doubled the force
will be only one-fourth (1/4) as great (Arkady: 1977). Newton realized that
gravitational attraction applies not only to bodies on the earth but is also
responsible for holding the moon in its orbit round the sun. And it is also
responsible for the movement of the earth and its fellow planets in their
orbits round the sun.

Exercise 4.2
Test your understanding of the two laws discussed here with the following
questions:
1. (a) ————————————— (b) ——————————— and
(c) ——————————— of ‘things’ is evidence that there is a
causal order.
2. Every ——————— has a cause.
3. The force which pulls every object in the universe towards every other
object in the universe is called
(a) centripetal force.
(b) centrifugal force.
(b) contact force.
(d) gravitational force.
4. The first scientific explanation of the behaviour of falling bodies was
given by —————

4.0 Conclusion
In this unit, you have learnt what natural laws are and how laws differ from
theories.
And you should now be able to give examples of natural laws. Other topics
discussed here include the law of uniformity of nature and the law
of

41
 universal gravitation. From these discussions, you now know that these laws
relate to events which we encounter everyday of our lives.

5.0 Summary
The main points in this unit are
1. Theories that have proved to be so universally valid or true and have
such a high degree of probability are called natural laws.
2. In general, law of nature refer to the following:
(a) Those uniformities found in nature (behaviour, function,
relations and properties of things).
(b) Established connection of successive events which make up the
order of the universe.
(c) Theories established through scientific research.
3. Examples of laws of nature are the
(a) law of the uniformity of nature.
(b) law of causation.
(c) law of gravitation.
(d) law of natural selection.
4. Scientific laws are objective, factual and can be expressed in
quantifiable form.
5. The entire universe is said to show uniform patterns and to form a
united system.
This view is called the law of the uniformity of nature.
6. Gravitation is the force which pulls ever y object in the universe
towards every other object in the universe. It is the force that makes a
body fall through space toward the earth.
7. The first scientific explanation (theory) of the behaviour of falling
objects was given by Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727).
8. Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity which was formulated in 1905
explained the Newtonian theory further by asserting that gravitation is
a property of space.
9. With this clarification by Einstein and others the theory of gravitation
was elevated to the rank of a law.
10. The basic idea of the law is that if the mass (amount of matter) of one
of the two attracting bodies is doubled, the gravitational attraction will
also be doubled; but if their distance apart is doubled, the force will be
only one quarter as great.
11. Gravitational attraction explains the behaviour of falling objects and
the motions of the moon and the planets and other motions we observe
on earth.

6.0 Tutor-marked assignment

1. What does the law of nature refer to?
2. Explain what is meant by the term ‘gravitation’
3. What is the basic idea of the law of universal gravitation.

42
 Answers to the exercises
Exercise 4.1
1. natural laws
2. (a) law of Gravitation (b) law of natural selection
3. speculative
4. scientific laws

Exercise 4.2
1. (a) natural sequence (b) regularity (c) pattern of behaviour
2. event
3. gravitational force
4. Isaac Newton
7.0 References and f urther reading
Abbot, A.F. (1973) Ordinary Level Physics (2nd Ed.)
Heinemann Educational Books Ltd, London.
Arkady, L. (1977) Tell Me Why, Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd, London.
Eneh, J.O.(2000) History and Philosophy of Science – An Outline, Magnet
Business Enterprises Publishing Division, Enugu.
Nwala, T.U. (1997) ‘Laws of nature’ in Nwala, T.U. (ed.) History and
Philosophy of Science, Niger Books and Publishing Co. Ltd, Nsukka.pp,
76-81.
The New Encyclopaedia Brittannica (1995) ‘The history of science’,
Vol. 27, pp. 32-42.

43
 Module 1 Unit 5: History of science -1
(Origin of Western science in the ancient
times)
Table of contents

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.1 Ancient Western science
3.1.1 Egypt
3.1.2 Babylonia (present day Iraq)
3.1.3 African philosophy
3.1.4 Ancient Greeks
3.1.5 Science in the Roman period
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summar y
6.0 Tutor-marked assignment
7.0 References and further reading

1.0 Introduction
In this unit you are going to learn how Western science originated in ancient
times. In fact, the next four units will introduce you to how that science
originated and how it evolved to its present state. Please bear in mind that
when we talk about the origin of science, we are in essence talking about the
origin of the scientific method. If you can recall from unit 1, science can be
defined in terms of the method of acquiring knowledge of nature. From the
time of recorded history to the early sixteenth century AD, Western science
progressed very slowly. It was the emergence of this method of science in
the seventeenth centur y that enabled the science to achieve the impressive
success it has achieved today. This topic is important because it will help
you to appreciate how logical thinking is of indispensable value to man. It is
also important because it will expose the mistakes of the past and enable us
to learn from them.
The histor y of Western science is going to be discussed in four phases
namely:
1. Origin of Western science in ancient times (which dates from the
beginning of recorded history to about AD 476).
2. Science in the middle ages of Europe (AD 476 –1400).
3. Rise of modern science (AD 1400 to the present time).

44
 4. Twentieth century scientific revolution.
However, you should note that the division of history into these periods
is only a guide to help historians. There was never any such clear-cut
division of time in history. Rather, one period merged into the next. As was
mentioned earlier, this unit will only treat the origin of science in the ancient
times. The other phases will be discussed in subsequent units. The objectives
below specify what you are expected to have learnt after studying this unit.

2.0 Objectives
After studying this unit you should be able to:
1. Write briefly on the contributions of ancient Egyptians and Babylonians
to science
2. Discuss vividly how Thales of Miletus, Anaximander and Pythagoras
explained the fundamental component of matter.
3. Identify the contributions of the Roman Empire to science.

3.1 Ancient science

The origin of science is often traced to the Egyptians and the Babylonians.
They originated science during the Neolithic age when they settled down to
an organized agricultural life and activity. It has been possible to infer what
the content of science in these areas was from archaeological remains. This
is because writing, as we know it today, hadn’t been discovered: then
(Dampier: 1989; Nwala & Agbakogba: 1997). It is important to note that the
disciplines we call science today separated gradually from philosophy. Thus
at the time of the Egyptians and Babylonians, people who studied plants,
animals, stars and other heavenly bodies, rocks, soils, etc were all called
philosophers. There was nothing like a botanist, zoologist, an astronomer,
etc. It was in Alexandrian Academy in Egypt that specialisations started.
You will read about this subsequently.
Please also note that the word ‘philosophy’ was taken from two Greek
words, namely: ‘philos’ (which means love) and ‘sophia’ (which means
wisdom). Thus philosophy literally means ‘love of wisdom’. Therefore to
call a person a philosopher was to call him a lover of wisdom. This is
because the Greeks believed that whoever tried to study and understand
nature was trying to be wise.

3.1.1 Egypt
The kingdom of Egypt was divided into three religious centres, which were
Memphis, Heliopolis, Thebes or Hermopolis. These centres were
administered by priest–scholars. They were called scholars because they
were the intellectual class of the ancient Egyptians. Their power
tremendous and even the kings were subject to it (Onyewuenyi: 1993).
was
These priest—scholars established a kind of school system known as the
Egyptian Mystery System schools. The schools were a kind of university
where every known discipline was taught by the priests. Such disciplines

45
 were philosophy, comprising religion, medicine, law, mathematics,
geometry, astronomy, etc. This group of disciplines was referred to as ‘the
Wisdom of the Egyptians’. Thus a lot of ancient Egyptian science
studied as sacred knowledge. And such knowledge was possessed and
was
disseminated by the priests. One of the main stimuli for the origin of ancient
Egyptian science was their practical needs in agriculture (such as measuring,
calculations, surveying and study of the weather and the heavens). Second is
their understanding of the world they lived in through religion and
philosophy (Nwala and Agbakoba: 1997).
Astronomy originated with the Egyptians through their study of the
heavens, the stars and the weather. They knew that the best time to plant
their crops was right after the Nile River overflowed its banks. Their priests
noticed that between each overflow the moon rose 12 times. So they counted
12 moons or months and figured out when the Nile would rise again. Their
accuracy in these predictions led to their invention of the lunar calendar.
They divided the year into 12 ‘moons’ or ‘months’ of 30 days each and
added a space of 5 days to each year, thus bringing each year to a total of
365 days (Arkady: 1977).
Credit is also given to the Egyptians for the origination of mathematics.
The evidence was the finding of the Rind Mathematical Papyrus, which was
written during the reign of King A–User–Re (1650 B.C.). It contained
arithmetical problems and solutions involving the use of fractions and
decimals. Another ancient text which contains evidence of Egyptian origin
of the sciences is the famous writings of Hermes Trismegistus which contain
among other works, books on medicine, physics and chemistry (then called
alchemy). The theory of transmutation of elements (the basis of modern
chemistry) first appeared among ancient Egyptians.
The ancient Egyptians were also reputed highly in medicine. They are
said to have performed caesarean operations and removed cataracts from the
eyes. Evidence for these is contained in the Edwin Papyrus, which was
excavated. Do you know that the first physician of the ancient world and the
most famous was the Black Egyptian called Imhotep? He lived about 2980
BC. He was called ‘the god of medicine’ by the Greeks and he lived 2000
years before the Greek doctor, Hippocrates, who in modern times is called
the father of medicine (Eneh: 2000; Onyewuenyi: 1993). The Egyptians also
invented writing called Hieroglyphics and paper (papyr us) on which they
recorded their ideas and culture.

3.1.2 Babylonia (present day Iraq)

The sciences of mathematics, astronomy and engineering (irrigation and
canal construction) also developed in Babylonia about 1800–1600 BC. The
Babylonians believed that the heavens were the abode of their gods. They
also believed that terrestrial disasters such as floods, insect attacks and
storms were caused by these gods. Thus, they studied heavenly events
carefully in order to know when their gods were angry so as to pacify them.
Out of these practices grew a descriptive astronomy that was the most

46
 sophisticated of the ancient world until the Greeks took it over and perfected
it. The first accurate astronomical observation they recorded was the rising
and setting of the planet Venus (The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: 1995).
The Babylonians also realised the importance of fixed units of physical
measurement. Their unit of length was the finger; the foot contained twenty
fingers; the cubit, thirty fingers. The measurements of weight were the grain,
the shekel and the talent, while their medium of exchange was the barley
(Dampier: 1989).
Their land was harsh and was made habitable by extensive damning and
irrigation works from their two great rivers – Tigris and Euphrates.
Mathematics thrived under these conditions. For instance, they needed to
calculate the volume of dirt to be removed from canals and the provision
necessary for work parties. It might be interesting to you to know that they
were the first to divide the day into hours, minutes and seconds, and also
divided the circle into 360 degrees (The Encyclopaedia Britannica: 1995).
You will agree that the Egyptians and the Babylonians were
observers
good of nature and they gave precise descriptions. What was missing
was scientific explanations. To them, all knowledge was attributed to the
revelations of their gods. They believed that it was the function of religion
and magic to understand nature but that man could describe it and use it.

Exercise 5.1
Now test yourself with the following questions:
1. The religious centres in Egypt were (a) —————————— (b) —
——— —————— and (c) ———————————— and they
were administered by d) ———————————
2. Evidence for the Egyptian origin of mathematics and medicine can be
found in a) ————————————— and (b) ——————
——————— papyri respectively.
3. The first physician of the ancient world was ———————————
4. A day was divided into hours, minutes and seconds by the —————
——————

3.1.3 African philosophy

From the last two sections, you have learnt the contributions of Egyptians
and Babylonians to the origin of various sciences. Before we discuss the
contributions of ancient Greeks, your attention needs to be drawn to the
influence of Egyptian philosophy on Greek philosophy. You should note
again that in ancient times, philosophy embraced all the disciplines of study
including natural science. But with the advancement and development of
learning, specialised areas of study such as various sciences separated from
their ancestor – philosophy, and became independent disciplines (Eneh:
2000).
The influence of colonial education has made it difficult for many to
appreciate Africa’s contribution to world civilisation. This is especially with
regard to philosophy and science. European and Western civilisation and

47
philosophy owe their origins to Egypt and Babylonia. Indeed Egyptian
philosophy is the origin of Western philosophy but Greek philosophy itself
owes its origin to Africa, particularly Egypt (Onyewuenyi: 1993). The
evidence includes the following:
1. From the writings of the ancient Greeks themselves, such as Homer,
Pythagoras, Socrates, Herodotus, Plutarch, Plato and Aristotle, etc, and
modern historians such as William Stace, Edith Hamilton and James
Henry Breasted, we learn
(a) the fact that Egypt is said to have colonised Greece and dominated its
culture.
The ancient Greeks also acknowledge the Egyptian origins of their
language, identity, science, philosophy, names of their gods, their
rituals, etc.
(b) the fact that many of the leading Greek intellectuals lived and
studied in Egypt. Africa’s major contributions to philosophy and
philosophical foundations of the various sciences include the
following (Eneh: 2000; Onyewuenyi: 1993):
1. The world’s first philosopher in history Ptah-Hotep (c 2800 BC) was an
African.
2. Another African, Ipuwar (c 2500 BC) was the world’s first social
philosopher.
3. The black Egyptian Imhotep who lived 2000 years before Hippocrates,
was called by the Greeks ‘the god of medicine’.
4. Hypathia – The world’s first woman philosopher (360–415AD).
5. The Alexandrian Academy in Egypt, which flourished between 300 BC
and AD 200, was the centre of the scientific world. It was also the first to
establish the tradition of disciplinary scholarship and specialisation.
Among its intellectual giants were:
(a) The great mathematician Euclid who synthesised geometry as a
science in his book Elements of Geometry.
(b) Aristarchus, the great astronomer and ‘Copernicus of
Antiquity’.
Human body.
(d) Archimedes, the great mathematician who laid the foundation for
the science of mechanics. He founded the Archimedean screw for
raising water and is attributed with the doctrine of levers.
(e) Eratosthenes, the librarian at Alexandria who was called ‘the most
learned man of antiquity’. He also advanced the knowledge of
prime numbers.
(f) Ptolemy of Alexandria, a geographer and an astronomer. His two
greatest works were:
(i) Al magest, one of the most influential scientific works of all
ages. It showed the paths in which the planets appear to move in
the heavens, a detailed star catalogues and, extensive description of
astronomical instruments.

48
 (ii) Geographical outline, which showed the map of the world
representing the curved surface of the earth or a plane surface using
latitude and longitude.
If you are interested in knowing more about the African origin of Greek
philosophy, the following book will be of assistance to you:

Onyewuenyi, I.C. (1993) The African Origin of Greek Philosophy: An

Exercise inAfrocentrism, University of Nigeria Press, Nsukka.

3.1.4 Ancient Greeks

Through the influence of Egypt and Babylonia, the Greeks acquired their
knowledge of mathematics, astronomy and philosophy and developed these
to an unprecedented degree (Nwala and Agbakoba: 1997).
Science in ancient Greece will be treated under two headings:
1. Pre-socratic philosopher-scientists
2. Socratic philosopher-scientists

Pre-socratics
These people were known as natural philosophers because they engaged
themselves with the study of nature and the origin of the world. They were
ten in number and they included, Thales of Miletus, A Phoenician who
migrated to Miletus in Ionia, Anaximander, Pythagoras, Heraclitus,
Democritus, etc, who were Ionian philosophers. These men are usually
called early Greek philosophers by some historians while some others are
consistent in noting their non-Greek origin. They studied in Egypt
elsewhere under the same curriculum. After their studies, they went back to
or
their respective countries to expand the teachings of the Egyptian Myster y
System School (Eneh: 2000; Onyewuenyi: 1993).
They were more concerned with the phenomenon of change. They
observed that physical substances (matter) change into one another but their
main concern was to find out the original stuff from which all
originated and to which they return. Has such a thought ever come to your
things
mind? They attempted to answer this question and named the ‘world-stuff’
each in his own way:

1. Thales of Miletus (620 –546 BC)

He is usually referred to as the father of Western philosophy. He taught that
water was the source of all things in the universe. According to Aristotle
(Dampier: 1989), Thales got this idea from seeing that the nutriment of all
things is moisture and that water is the origin of the nature of moist things.
Things that exist in the world are solid, liquid or gaseous in form. Water,
according to Thales, underlies these forms and change from one form to
another. Thales also forecast the eclipse of 585BC, although knowledge
about eclipses was far advanced in Egypt where he studied (Nwala and
Agbakoba: 1997; The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: 1995).

49
2. Anaximander (611 –547 BC)
He was a pupil of Thales in the Milesian school. He was quick to argue that
water could not be the basic substance, because water is essentially wet and
nothing can be its own contradiction. According to him, if Thales were
correct, the opposite of wet could not exist in a substance and that would
preclude all the dry things in the world. Therefore Thales was wrong ( The
New Encyclopaedia Britannica: 1995). Here was the birth of the critical
tradition that is fundamental to the advance of science. On his own part, he
called the ‘world-stuff ’ the ‘infinite something’. This expresses the idea that
the original stuff had no beginning, was imperishable, inexhaustible and
indestructible. He was also the first among the Greeks to represent the earth
on a map, though the science of map making (cartography) was known in
Egypt and Babylonia.

3. Pythagoras (582 –497 BC)

He spent 22 years in Egypt and received instruction in mathematics, physics,
theology, music, philosophy and ethics from the priest–scholars of the
Mystery System schools (Nwala and Agbakoba: 1997; The N ew
Encyclopaedia Britannica: 1995). The mathematical theor y called
Pythagorean theory is named after him. For him all things are numbers. He
believed that the universe was composed of numbers in various shapes –
squares, cubes, oblong, triangular, etc. To him all things in the universe were
numerable and could be counted. Pythagoreans (his followers) believed that
the unit ‘one’ is the source of all numbers and they divided it into odd and
even numbers. The whole story is interesting, isn’t it?

4. Heraclitus (535 – 475 BC)

For him the ‘world-stuff’ is divine fire. He was the first Greek to advance the
principle of change as a universal law. Change, he said is the only reality and
that there is nothing permanent in the world. According to him, ‘From life
comes death; from death comes life; sleep changes into wakefulness and
wakefulness changes into sleep’. Everything in the universe, he says, has its
own opposite (Dampier: 1989).

5. Democritus (460 BC - ?)
He was a disciple of Leucippus who is credited with the founding of the
atomic theory or the doctrine of matter. He became the ablest and best-
known interpreter of the atomic theory (Dampier: 1989). He proposed that
matter is made up of atoms and they are infinite in number and too small to
be perceived by the senses. He said that atoms differ in size, some bigger,
some smaller and that there is empty space between them. According to him,
everything new is produced from a combination of atoms and that death or
cessation takes place when atoms separate.
So you can see that even the atomic theory was known in the ancient
times. This effort of the Greeks to explain the basic components of matter is

50
 important in the histor y of scientific thought. This is because they tried to
reason and to explain it in seemingly simpler terms.

The Socratics
They included Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Plato studied in Egypt, but
histor y is silent on whether Socrates and Aristotle also studied in Egypt. We
shall discuss them one after the other.

1. Socrates (469–399 BC)

He was the teacher of Plato and was born in Athens. He was a moral teacher
and sought truth by asking questions. He enriched science with the tools of
universal definitions and inductive reasoning. You will learn about inductive
reasoning in a subsequent unit.

2. Plato (427–347 BC)

After Plato’s studies in Egypt, he returned to Athens and opened a school
called the ‘Academy’. He taught that it was more noble and dignified to seek
answers by reasoning rather than by experiments. He loved mathematics and
he formulated the idea of negative numbers. His Academy also produced
philosopher–scientists such as Heracleides of Pontus (388–315 BC).
Heracleides suggested that the earth rotates on its own axis once in every 24
hours and that Mercury and Venus circle round the sun like satellites (Eneh:
2000; Nwala and Agbakoba: 1997).

3. Aristotle (384–322 BC)

He was the most accomplished of Plato’s pupils. He was born at Stagira in
Macedonia. He was a tutor of Alexander the Great. He wrote books on
almost all the areas of knowledge – biology, botany, anatomy, physics,
metaphysics, astronomy, mathematics, logic, economics, politics, law,
psychology, etc. His influence on subsequent development of science and
philosophy was enormous. In particular, his views on physics and astronomy
controlled the view most men had of the universe for two thousand years.
However, to him, the proper means of investigation was observation.
In conclusion, Greek science was said to be more of a speculative and
theoretical activity rather than experimental and practical.
In the next section, you will learn about the contributions of Rome to
science. In the meantime, answer the following questions to check your
understanding of the topic so far.

Exercise 5.2
1. Match the items in ‘A’ with those in ‘B’ by filling in the correct letter
in the space provided:

A B
—————— Imhotep (a) Wrote the book called ‘Al magest’
—————— Hypathia (b) The first to dissect the human body

51
—————— Euclid (c) The first physician in the world
—————— Herophilus (d) The first woman philosopher
—————— Archimedes (e) Synthesised geometry as a science
—————— Ptolemy (f) Laid the foundation for the science of
mechanics

2. Pre-socratics named the ‘world-stuff ’ each in his own way. The

following are what they named. Identify who named each:
(a)Water —————————————
(b) Infinite something ————————
(c) Numbers ———————————
(d) Divine fire ————————————
(e) Atoms —————————————

3.1.5 Science in the R oman period (50 BC–AD 400)

The last and the most important of ancient civilisations in Europe was the
Roman Empire. People of many different races came under its rule – the
English, the French, Arabians, Syrians, Greeks, etc.
The Roman Empire, however, did not have much influence in the
development of science. It was more interested in conquests and
maintenance of power through political and military administration. The
spirit of independent research was quite foreign to the Roman mind, so
scientific innovation was interrupted for awhile (The New Encyclopaedia
Britannica: 1995). However, some scientific works were produced during
this period, but none of them was revolutionar y in nature. They were mainly
a detailed explanation of scientific conceptions already developed in
Alexandria or Greece. These include:

1. Geographical science
The wars and military expeditions of the Romans yielded much further
geographical knowledge to mankind. Nations or countries, which were
relatively unknown, entered the world map. Julius Caesar, one of
emperors gave the world its present calendar called the Julian calendar in 46
the
BC. In this calendar, the length of the year is fixed at 365 days and at 366
days at every fourth year. There were 12 calendar months of 30 and 31 days
except for February, which has 28 days. However, February has 29 days at
every fourth year or leap year. The month of July is also named after Julius
Caesar
(Nwala and Agbakoba: 1997).
Additionally, Pope Gregory III made a slight innovation to the Julian
calendar. He made the leap year occur in any year whose number is exactly
divisible by 4. The only exception is the centenary years whose numbers are
not exactly divisible by 400, for instance, 1800, 1900. The revised calendar
is called the Gregorian calendar.

2. Medical education and health care

52
 The Romans of this period also established hospitals and paid physicians
who worked there. They also promoted public health, hygiene and
sanitation.

3. Pliny’s natural History

Pliny (AD 23-79) promoted the development of natural history. He wrote a
book on natural history and the topics of discussion in it were on animals
and plants, especially medicinal plants and their uses. However, the book
was a compilation of 2000 works by 146 Roman and 326 Greek authors.
In conclusion, both scientific research and theoretical science were in
decline under the Roman Empire. The advances they made were more of a
practical nature.

4.0 Conclusion
This unit has introduced you to how science originated in Egypt
Babylonia and how the sciences were advanced further in Greece and in the
and
Roman Empire. You have also been informed that Western philosophy and
science owe their origins to Egypt.

5.0 Summary
The main points in this unit include the following:

1. Science originated in Egypt and Babylonia (which is present-day Iraq).

2. Egyptian priest–scholars established a kind of school known as the
Egyptian Mystery System Schools where every known discipline was
taught by the priests.
3. Evidence for the Egyptian origins of mathematics and medicine can be
found in the Rind Mathematical Papyrus and the Edwin Papyrus
respectively.
4. Babylonians developed the most descriptive astronomy of the ancient
world.
5. They were the first to divide the day into hours, minutes and seconds and
also divided the circle into 360 degrees.
6. Egyptian philosophy is the origin of Western philosophy. Evidence can
be found in the writings of ancient Greeks themselves such as Homer
and Pythagoras, and from modern historians such as William Stace and
James Henr y Breasted.
7. Pre-socratics named the original stuff from which all things originated
and to which they return. The names given were:
(a) Water by Thales of Miletus
(b) Infinite something by Anaximander
(c) Number by Pythagoras
(d) Divine fire by Heraclitus
(e) Atoms by Democritus
8. Socrates enriched science with universal definitions and inductive
reasoning.

53
 9. Plato formulated the idea of negative numbers
10. Aristotle wrote books on almost all the areas of knowledge – biology,
zoology, physics, astronomy, etc.
11. Scientific innovation began to decline in the Roman Empire.
12. The calendar invented by the Egyptians was modified further by Julius
Caesar and Pope Gregory III.
Answers to the exercises
Exercise 5.1
1. (a) Memphis (b) Heliopolis (c) Thebes or Hermopolis (d) Priest-
scholars
2. (a) Rind Mathematical Papyrus (b) Edwin Papyrus
3. Imhotep
4. Babylonians

Exercise 5.2
1. c,d,e,b,f,a
2. (a) Thales of Miletus (b) Anaximander (c) Pythagoras (d) Heraclitus
(e) Democritus
6.0 Tutor-marked assignment (TMA)
1. Write briefly on the contributions of ancient Egyptians and Babylonians
to science.
2. How did Thales of Miletus, Anaximander and Pythagoras explain the
fundamentalcomponent of matter?

7.0 References and further reading

Arkady, L. (1977) Tell Me Why, The Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd,
London.
Dampier, W.C. (1989) A History of Science: And Its Relations With
Philosophy And Religion, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Eneh, J.O. (2000) History and Philosophy of science – An Outline, MBE,
Publishing Division, Enugu.
Nwala, T. U. and J. C. Agbakoba (1997) ‘History of science’ in: Nwala,
T.U. (ed.)
History and Philosophy of Science, Niger Books and Publishing Co.
Ltd, Nsukka. 13- 38
Onyewuenyi, I. C. (1993) The African Origin of Greek Philosophy: An
Exercise inAfrocentrism, University of Nigeria Press, Nsukka.
The New Encyclopaedia Brittannica (1995) ‘The history of science’, Vol.
27, pp. 32-42.

54