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This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm BobDoughty.
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And I'm Sarah Long. Our subject this week is the science of ...science.
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Each week we present reports about science. These are about manydifferent subjects. They can be about volcanoes exploding,developments of improved farm crops, archeology, space, newtreatments for diseases. We say they are about science, but werarely, if ever, say what science is.
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In Special English we are very careful how we say things. Wewrite our reports so that they are correct and can be easilyunderstood. Our science reports usually are the most difficultprograms to write.
We use a limited number of words, and we want to write verysimply and clearly. This makes it difficult to write about complexscientific subjects. For example, we write about developments inefforts to find a way to fight and cure diseases such as cancer orAIDS.
We must find a way, in Special English, to describe how enzymesand proteins affect the structure of cells that are part of thehuman body's system that defends against disease. This is an exampleof science.
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We tell about how the continents on our planet are always moving.
We report on how the use of sonar in the ocean may affect whales.Or of warnings that great apes may be in danger of disappearing fromEarth.
We tell about discoveries of how humans made high-quality steelthousands of years ago.
We report on progress in the study of the particles smaller thanatoms. And of information gathered by the spacecraft Cassini at theplanet Saturn.
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Week after week there are storiesof discovery in the news. Some days the news is exciting. Some daysit is not so exciting. And some days … well, some days are like lastWednesday.
That was the day a small spacecraft returned to Earth after aflight to collect particles expelled from the Sun. These atoms,highly charged with electricity, are called solar wind. The elementsin solar wind could help explain more about the birth of our solarsystem.
The American space agency, NASA, launched the robotic vehicleGenesis in August of two thousand one.
Early last Wednesday, Genesis released aone-and-a-half-meter-wide capsule to land with the particles ofsolar wind. Engineers designed the capsule with a parachute to becaught by a hook connected to a helicopter.
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Two helicopters were ready and inposition for the catch ... except the parachute never deployed.
The Genesis capsule fell from the sky, turning end over end,above the desert of the American West. It crashed and layhalf-buried in the sand of the Air Force's Utah Test and TrainingRange.
The capsule broke open. Still, scientists are hopeful that theywill be able to study pieces of the Sun. But risks like the crash ofthe Genesis capsule are a part of science.
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Yet what exactly is science? The most simple definition is thatscience is knowledge. It is knowledge gained through observation andstudy.
The scientific method is the use of rules and systems for gainingknowledge. There are three parts to the scientific method. The firstpart is recognizing and understanding problems. The second iscollecting information through observation and experiment. The thirdpart is developing and testing theories.
For example, when scientists observe something happen, they tryto develop a theory about how it happens and what causes it tohappen. A theory is a possible explanation for an event. Scientiststhen test that theory by using experiments. They hope to prove thattheir explanation is correct. If the scientists can prove theirtheory, it becomes a fact. A fact is something known or proved to betrue.
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Scientists are like other investigators. They try to gather asmuch evidence as possible to explain events. This idea -- thatscience can provide the answers -- often brings science intoconflict with religion.
People may separate the two by thinking of science as a processof gaining knowledge and religion as a system of beliefs. There arepeople who believe in science like a religion. But science andreligion both seek to explain the mysteries of the universe, ofnature and of ourselves.
NASA clearly recognized this fact when it chose the name Genesisfor its spacecraft that collected atoms from the Sun. Both theJewish and Christian bibles begin with the Book of Genesis. Itdescribes how God created the heavens and the Earth, and broughtlight to the universe.
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In ancient times, many, many things in the world were greatmysteries to people. Ancient humans could explain these things onlyas the work of gods. These explanations became part of religiousbeliefs. As years passed and human knowledge expanded, many beliefscame to be explained scientifically.
Sometimes, solving the mysteries by scientific study showed thatreligious teachings were wrong. This often angered religiousleaders. An example is how the Roman Catholic Church reacted to theidea that the Earth was not the center of the universe.
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In fourteen ninety-seven, the Polish astronomer NicolausCopernicus observed that the Earth moved in an orbit around the Sun.He used the scientific method to show that the Earth was not thecenter of the universe.
His discovery conflicted with the beliefs and teachings of theRoman Catholic Church, as well as other religious groups. More thanone hundred years later, the church tried and condemned GalileoGalilei for saying that Copernicus was right. Galileo was an Italianmathematician, physicist and astronomer.
The church had taught for centuries that the Sun, all the planetsand the stars orbited around the Earth. Three hundred fifty yearspassed before the Roman Catholic Church admitted officially that itwas wrong. It withdrew its condemnation of Galileo.
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In eighteen fifty-nine, the British scientist Charles Darwinpublished a book. It was called "On the Origin of Species by Meansof Natural Selection." In this book, Darwin explained his theorythat all living things developed, or evolved, from simple organisms.
He wrote that these organisms changed over millions of years toproduce all the different kinds of plants and animals, includinghumans. To prove his theory of evolution, Darwin used the scientificmethod. For five years he traveled around the world, observingdifferent plants and animals.
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The studies showed Darwin that some animals and plants haveabilities that help them survive in the struggle for life. He foundthat they pass these abilities along when they reproduce. Otherplants and animals, he said, are less able to survive or reproduceand may disappear. Darwin came to believe that all modern creatureshad developed from a few earlier ones.
The book had a major effect. Many people who believed strongly inthe influence of God condemned Darwin. His ideas conflicted with theteachings of creationism. This the idea that God created theuniverse and all living things fully formed.
In any case, scientists consider that much of modern scienceevolved from the work of Charles Darwin.
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Some people reject scientific ideas that conflict with theirreligious beliefs. Some reject religious beliefs that conflict withtheir scientific ideas. And some would agree with Wilton RobertAbbott, an aerospace engineer who is given credit for this saying:
"To understand the place of humans in the universe is to solve acomplex problem. Therefore, I find it impossible to believe that anunderstanding based entirely on science or one based entirely onreligion can be correct."
Probably the greatest scientist of the twentieth century wasAlbert Einstein. He had no problem mixing science and religion.Einstein once said that the religious experience is the strongestand the most honorable force behind scientific research.
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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Oliver Chanler and CatyWeaver. Cynthia Kirk was our producer. This is Bob Doughty.
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And this is Sarah Long. If you have a question or comment for us,write to special@voanews.com, or VOA Special English, WashingtonD.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, USA.
You can learn more about the Genesis spacecraft tomorrow at thistime on EXPLORATIONS. And please join us again next week for morenews about science, in Special English, on the Voice of America.