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Frankenstein: fiction inspired by science of the times

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Frankenstein: fiction inspired by science of the times

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Frankenstein is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20. Her name first appeared in the second edition, which was published in Paris in 1821. In recent times, professor of philosophy, Patricia MacCormack says that ‘the Creature’ in the book addresses the most fundamental human questions: "It's the idea of asking your maker what your purpose is. Why are we here, what can we do?”

Watch these two trailers from different adaptations of the story of Frankenstein and make notes about what you watch. Compare your ideas in small groups.
https://youtu.be/BN8K-4osNb0

https://youtu.be/7pxZxY_Siyc

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Dorothy Hodgkin: an important scientist in the field of structural biology

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Dorothy Hodgkin: an important scientist in the field of structural biology

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Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin (12 May 1910 – 29 July 1994) was a Nobel Prize-winning British chemist who advanced the technique of X-ray crystallography to determine the structure of biomolecules, which became an essential tool in structural biology.
Among her most influential discoveries are the confirmation of the structure of penicillin and vitamin B12, for which in 1964 she became the third woman to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Hodgkin also clarified the structure of insulin in 1969 after 35 years of work.

Dorothy Hodgkin

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Professor Stephen Hawking (1942 – 2018): a powerful mind in the science of black holes

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Professor Stephen Hawking (1942 – 2018): a powerful mind in the science of black holes

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Widely regarded as one of the world’s most brilliant minds, he was known throughout the world for his contributions to science, his books, his television appearances, his lectures and through biographical films.

Professor Hawking broke new ground on the basic laws which govern the universe, including the revelation that black holes have a temperature and produce radiation, now known as Hawking radiation. At the same time, he also sought to explain many of these complex scientific ideas to a wider audience through popular books, most notably his bestseller A Brief History of Time. His life story was made into a film, The Theory of Everything film.

Watch the trailer here:

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The Theory of Everything - Official Trailer (Universal Pictures) HD

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Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955): a man who is most famous for his theory of relativity

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Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955): a man who is most famous for his theory of relativity

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Einstein was born at Ulm, in Württemberg, Germany. During his childhood he moved between various places in Europe and obtained his doctor’s degree in 1905. He is most well-known for developing the theory of relativity.

Read more about his life and achievements here:

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The Nobel Prize in Physics 1921 was awarded to Albert Einstein “for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect”

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Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882): most well-known for his theory of evolution

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Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882): most well-known for his theory of evolution

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Charles Darwin was born in 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. His father, a doctor, had high hopes that his son would earn a medical degree at Edinburgh University in Scotland, where he enrolled at the age of sixteen. It turned out that Darwin was more interested in natural history than medicine. In 1831, Darwin embarked on a voyage aboard a ship of the British Royal Navy, the HMS Beagle, employed as a naturalist. In 1859, Darwin published his thoughts based on his findings from this expedition about evolution and natural selection in On the Origin of Species. It was as popular as it was controversial. The book convinced many people that species change over time, suggesting that the planet was much older than what was commonly believed at the time: six thousand years.

Watch an interview with Brian Cox and David Attenborough (two leading figures in the world of science today) to hear their thoughts on Charles Darwin:

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People of Science with Brian Cox - Sir David Attenborough on Charles Darwin

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Sir Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727): a scientist famous for his theories on gravity

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Sir Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727): a scientist famous for his theories on gravity

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Sir Isaac Newton was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher") who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the scientific revolution. The presidency of Sir Isaac Newton at the Royal Society from 1703 to 1727 saw this great mathematician and physicist asserting the society’s dominant role in science in Britain and farther afield.

A painting of Sir Isaac Newton

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Sir Christopher Wren (1632 – 1723): learn more about his impact on the scientific world

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Sir Christopher Wren (1632 – 1723): learn more about his impact on the scientific world

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Christopher Wren is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history. Educated in Latin and Aristotelian physics at the University of Oxford, Wren was a notable anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist, as well as an architect. He was a founder of the Royal Society (president 1680–82), and his scientific work was highly regarded by Isaac Newton.

Portrait of Sir Christopher Wren

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The Royal Society: a world renowned society for science and progress

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The Royal Society: a world renowned society for science and progress

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The Royal Society, in full ‘The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge’, is the oldest national scientific society in the world and the leading national organization for the promotion of scientific research in Britain. The Royal Society originated on 28 November 1660, when 12 men met after a lecture at Gresham College, London, by Christopher Wren (then professor of astronomy at the college) and resolved to set up “a Colledge for the promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning.” As of 1945, women have also been eligible for a Royal Society Fellowship. Famous fellows include Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking and Dorothy Hodgkin.

Carlton House Terrace: home of the Royal Society since 1967

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Empiricism: a revolutionary approach to science and discovery

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Empiricism: a revolutionary approach to science and discovery

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Empirical research is research that is based on observation and measurement of phenomena, as directly experienced by the researcher. The data gathered may be compared against a theory or hypothesis, but the results are still based on real life experience. The Royal Society's motto 'Nullius in verba' means 'take nobody's word for it', meaning to verify all statements using experiments.

Watch this short video to learn more about the empirical cycle in its modern form for science and research today:

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This Course

Video Transcript

Discover the principles of solid scientific methods in the behavioral and social sciences. Join us and learn to separate sloppy science from solid research! This course will cover the fundamental principles of science, some history and philosophy of science, research designs, measurement, sampling and ethics. The course is comparable to a university level introductory course on quantitative research methods in the social sciences, but has a strong focus on research integrity. We will use examples from sociology, political sciences, educational sciences, communication sciences and psychology.

View Syllabus

From the lesson

The Scientific Method

In the first module we discussed how the scientific method developed, general philosophical approaches and the types of knowledge science aims to find. In this second module we'll make these abstract principles and concepts a little more concrete by discussing the empirical cycle and causality in more detail. We'll see how, and in what order these concepts are implemented when we conduct a research study. We'll also consider the main criteria for evaluating the methodological quality of a research study: Validity and reliability. The focus will be on internal validity and how internal validity can be threatened.

Taught By

Annemarie Zand Scholten

Assistant Professor

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2.01 Empirical Cycle - The Scientific Method | Coursera

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Loading... This Course Video Transcript Discover the principles of solid scientific methods in the behavioral and social sciences. Join us and learn to separate sloppy science from solid research! This course will cover the fundamental principles of science, some history and philosophy of science, research designs, measurement, sampling and ethics.

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Francis Bacon: who was this man called ‘the father of empiricism’

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Francis Bacon: who was this man called ‘the father of empiricism’

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Bacon has been called the father of empiricism. He argued for the possibility of scientific knowledge based only upon inductive reasoning and careful observation of events in nature. He argued science could be achieved by use of a sceptical and methodical approach. This method is still central to debates on science and methodology today.

Portrait of Sir Francis Bacon by Pourbus the Younger (1617).

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During the 17th and 18th centuries, British philosophy came to be dominated by the view that knowledge is gained primarily or mainly through the five senses. This position , known as empiricism, was destined to shape the course of science for centuries to come. The most prominent defender of scientific empiricism was Francis Bacon. In literature and cinematography, the most prominent story to captivate audiences’ imaginations on the topic of science is Frankenstein.