Empirical Science by HUB Scuola https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h en-us 2021-03-19 10:26:27 UTC 2025-09-24 07:53:00 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f9ea.png Introduction mappe_bacheche https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329179980 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. ]]> 2021-03-19 10:28:06 UTC https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329179980 Francis Bacon: who was this man called ‘the father of empiricism’ mappe_bacheche https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329186511 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).]]> 2021-03-19 10:31:26 UTC https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329186511 Empiricism: a revolutionary approach to science and discovery mappe_bacheche https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329191030 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: 
]]> 2021-03-19 10:33:40 UTC https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329191030 The Royal Society: a world renowned society for science and progress mappe_bacheche https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329198693 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]]> 2021-03-19 10:37:20 UTC https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329198693 Sir Christopher Wren (1632 – 1723): learn more about his impact on the scientific world mappe_bacheche https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329204862 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]]> 2021-03-19 10:40:02 UTC https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329204862 Sir Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727): a scientist famous for his theories on gravity mappe_bacheche https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329208725 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]]> 2021-03-19 10:41:50 UTC https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329208725 Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882): most well-known for his theory of evolution mappe_bacheche https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329212160 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: 
]]> 2021-03-19 10:43:30 UTC https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329212160 Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955): a man who is most famous for his theory of relativity mappe_bacheche https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329213609 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:]]> 2021-03-19 10:44:11 UTC https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329213609 Professor Stephen Hawking (1942 – 2018): a powerful mind in the science of black holes mappe_bacheche https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329215423 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: 
]]> 2021-03-19 10:45:02 UTC https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329215423 Dorothy Hodgkin: an important scientist in the field of structural biology mappe_bacheche https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329216752 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 ]]> 2021-03-19 10:45:42 UTC https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329216752 Frankenstein: fiction inspired by science of the times mappe_bacheche https://padlet.com/mappe_bacheche/86gyzz8t0lxe7o0h/wish/1329219836 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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