Skip to Main Content

Theory of Knowledge: Natural Sciences

resources for TOK at WAB

Key Concepts

Is there a single scientific method? When should we be skeptical of scientific findings?

CC: The Scientific Methods of Galileo, Bacon and Descartes

Is new scientific knowledge built incrementally or through sudden insight?

How do we decide among conflicting theories? How do scientists try to protect against error in scientific research

Things that make you go hmmm....

Why you should (mostly) trust what science tells you
Why should we trust scientific findings?
Politics of the Periodic Table
Who gets credit, and why?
Truth, Reality and the Role of Science
Has science motivated new philosophical questions?
Keep Science Irrational
Is the scientific method the only measure of scientific truth?
The Dark Side of Crispr
Should scientific research be subject to ethical constraints, or is the pursuit of all scientific knowledge intrinsically worthwhile
Science is Deeply Imaginative
What is the role of imagination and intuition in the creation of hypotheses in the natural sciences?
Whales communicate and change their culture
Much Ado About Nothing
Michael Shermer article for Scientific American about various hypotheses that explain how something (the universe) came from nothing.
How Hard is it to Clean up the Scientific Literature?
Review of a research study tracking misconduct in published papers.
But do you LIKE the Big Bang Theory?
Article about the role of emotion in science.
Two Cultures Defining Research
A physicist discusses the difference in research methodology between natural and human sciences.
What are honest scientists to do about a master of deception?
Story about chemist who got away with falsifying results for years due to confidence and personality. Proposes rigorous checking.
The Difference Between a Scientific Law and a Scientific Theory
From TED Ed
Can Science Shape Human Values? And Should It?
NPR story about what science has to tell us about what we should and should not value.
In Praise of Scientific Error
Scientific American article discussing why scientific error is an asset to knowledge-making.
Why Pluto Got Demoted
NPR interview with a man who was one of the primary movers in the movement to reclassify Pluto.
Science Can Answer Moral Questions
TED Talk by Sam Harris on why science should be relied upon to answer moral questions.
First Issue of Scientific American
From 28 August 1845. Take a look at science nearly 200 years ago.
Science IS imagination
Discover Magazine opinion piece about the difference between "science" and "scientism".
Why the foundations of physics have not changed for 40 years
Institute of Art and Ideas article by Sabine Hossenfeider.

What counts as evidence in the natural sciences? Is science a religion for Ross?

What are the limits of scientific methods and the knowledge it creates?

Can we ever claim scientific certainty? How can scientific knowledge change over time?

Is scientific knowledge more valuable than other knowledge?

What makes knowledge valid? Is there good and bad science?

How does the way a scientific idea is communicated shape its validity?

What is the difference between the evidence used to justify scientific and ethical claims?

What is lost or gained when we use one area of knowledge to explain another?

Article: Science and Art are the same thing