One classic example of a failure of science occurred in the 18th or 19th century in the United States, during a summer long outbreak of yellow fever. I don't have the relevant book to hand, so I can't give you all the details, but it was in one of those Eastern towns - Philadelphia, Boston, or the like.

At least one of the doctors treating the epidemic considered bloodletting to reduce the fever was the appropriate treatment, and he dashed around from dawn to dusk, seeing patients. He guaranteed that if you came to him soon enough he could cure  you. He'd let out a third of the patient's blood, then hop into a carriage (he kept swapping between two of them to rest the horses) and on to the next patient. Unfortunately, it seems that none of his patients came to him soon enough.

It wasn't until considerably later that someone went over his notes, and determined that he overestimated the amount of blood in the human body by about a factor of three, and thus was removing most of his patients' blood during his treatments.

That was a failure of science.

Is not philosophy the love of sophistry?

May 3, 2012 -- 10:40AM, d_p_m wrote:

May 3, 2012 -- 9:00AM, vansdad wrote:

When a theory is proven it becomes a fact.

Ok, we can stop there.

One of your problems is that you don't know what a theory is.

"a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural and subject to experimentation, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact."

Not according to this definition.

May 4, 2012 -- 12:37AM, vansdad wrote:

May 3, 2012 -- 11:52AM, wohali wrote:

The great thing about scientific theories is that they are constantly reviewed and modified as we gain additional evidence/information/testability.

Holy books, not so much.

But there is still no answer from "science" as to the existance of the universe.  Maybe the holy book is correct in saying it was a creation.

The universe has always been around in one form or another. That's what science tells us. Holy books give us fairy tales.

May 4, 2012 -- 12:33AM, vansdad wrote:

May 3, 2012 -- 10:40AM, d_p_m wrote:

May 3, 2012 -- 9:00AM, vansdad wrote:

When a theory is proven it becomes a fact.

Ok, we can stop there.

One of your problems is that you don't know what a theory is.

Not according to this definition.

You know what's funny? You didn't cite your source. Know what's funnier? It doesn't matter. That definition originated with the 1996 edition of Webster, where it was the #2 definition. The #1 definition was:

>This is the accurate context for understanding ANY theory in science, as this is the scientific usage of the word. For the record, the Theory of Evolution is one of the most thoroughly confirmed theories (that is, coherent, tested, explanatory, predictive propositions) in all of science.

Moderated by Jcarlinbn on May 04, 2012 - 01:07PM