| Science is a way of knowing about the physical universe which requires measurements and controlled experiments. |
| There are many ways of knowing about our world and life. Science deals with the physical, material part of our world. Things which are not physical and measurable are not included in science and cannot be dealt with by science or its methods. You need other ways of knowing to deal with love, hate, ethics, morals, beauty, spirituality, etc. |
| Biology is that branch of science which deal with the study of living organisms. |
| Living organisms, and consequently the study of biology, have to deal with abiotic as well as biotic components of the world. We have to have some knowledge of geology, weather, chemistry, physics, etc., in order to know about how living things interact with each other as well as their environments. Thus, biology incorporates all of the other sciences. |
| Evolution is the change in allelic (gene) frequencies of a population over time. |
| The definition from Darwin's time (descent with modification) is not scientific. It is philosophical. You don't know what to measure. By that type of definition, you, as a descendent of your grandparents, and being different, have evolved. This is not true. The modern definition tells you what to measure (allelic frequencies) and at what level of organization to measure it (population). |
| Active transport is the movement of a substance across a biological membrane with the help of energy input (ATP) and specific transport proteins. |
| Do not include in the definition the term "against its concentration or electrochemical gradient". Your text included this in the definition, but it is wrong. Many substances are actively secreted. They are too big to diffuse so active transport is required to move them down the concentration gradient, just as diffusion would if they could diffuse. Including "against its concentration or electrochemical gradient" in the definition would eliminate most forms of secretion from active transport. |
| pH is the negative log of the hydrogen ion concentration ( pH = - log [H+] ). |
| This is the definition, anything else is a discussion or explanation. Notice - the "p" is lower case and the "H" is upper case. Any other format is wrong! |
| This information is missing from your lab book. It goes at the end of the fallacy descriptions, page 124. PDF format correction |
| iii Distorting the facts - rather than overlooking or evading relevant facts, these fallacies actually distort such facts. 1) False analogy - in this fallacy, certain cases are made to appear more similar than they really are. Few techniques of reasoning are so potentially useful--or so potentially dangerous--as analogy. When we reason by analogy we attempt to advance our position by likening an obscure or difficult set of facts to one that is already known and understood and to which it bears a significant resemblance. The fallacy of false analogy arises when the comparison is an erroneous one that distorts the facts in the case being argued. 2) False cause - this fallacy makes it appear that two events are causally connected in a way they are not. It is an argument which suggests that events are causally connected when in fact no such causal connection has ben established. 3) Irrelevant thesis - this fallacy distorts by concentrating on an issue which is actually irrelevant to the argument. A "thesis" is a position that one advances by means of an argument. Thus, it can be equated with a conclusion. This fallacy is an argument in which an attempt is made to prove a conclusion that is not the one at issue. This fallacy assumes the form of an argument that, while seeming to refute another's argument, actually advances a conclusion different from the one at issue in the other's argument. Of all the fallacies mentioned thus far none is potentially more deceptive than irrelevant thesis. This fallacy goes by a variety of names: irrelevant conclusion, ignoring the issue, befogging the issue, diversion and red herring. "Red herring" derives from the fact that escapees sometimes smear themselves with a herring (which turns brown or red when it spoils) in order to throw dogs off their track. To sway a red herring in an argument is to try to throw the audience off the right track onto something not relevant to the issue at hand. |