The purpose of this commentary on Hodson and Wong's (2017, this issue) article is to clarify the merits of the expanded family resemblance approach (FRA) to science education, briefly alluded to in their article, and to discuss the implications of this approach relative to the question of demarcation they raise. In clarifying the merits of the…

Responds to the comments made by Newman et al., Tryon, and Teo on the current author's original article. In the original article on public skepticism toward psychology, the author delineated eight reasons why many laypersons are dubious of our field's scientific status. The author argued that although some of these sources (e.g., hindsight bias,…

According to the philosophers of science Hempel and Oppenheim (1948), who were cited appropriately by Lilienfeld (see record 2011-12007-001) in his article, scientific explanations serve to answer "why" questions. Clarifying the logic of explanations in the sciences, they developed famously the notion that phenomena can be explained (using…

Owen-Smith et al. (this issue) answer the question about expanding funding for human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) research decisively and emphatically. They conclude that the U.S. federal government should expand funding in volume and scope, and stabilize it through regularity. According to Hurlbut and Robert, If the clear goal of policy should…

Science instructors, even at the college level, are routinely confronted with two facts about their students. First, most of their students have a poor understanding of the nature of science (NOS). Second, many of their students have religious objections to particular scientific theories that seem to cripple their ability to learn about, or even…

Describes methods used by scientists to investigate the past. Explains the scientific model existing in textbooks and methods for studying evolutionary history. (Contains 30 references.) (YDS)

A Toxicologist discusses common misconception that all chemicals are poisonous to people and the environment and how these misconceptions are perpetuated. Describes what makes a chemical toxic. Defines related concepts including dose, acute and chronic toxicity, and natural verses synthetic chemicals. (MCO)

Addresses Lawson's (2002) interpretations of Galileo's discovery of the moons of Jupiter and other cases that exhibit historical errors. Suggests that such cases can distort history and lessons about the nature of science. (SOE)

Discusses issues regarding evolution instruction in public schools and focuses on misconceptions such as the use of the word "belief", lack of evidence for theories of evolution, and the belief that teaching evolution as fact is proselytizing students. Presents teaching approaches to the topic of evolution. (Contains 33 references.) (YDS)

Surveys reveal that many in our society have an inadequate and inaccurate understanding of evolution (Alters & Alters, 2001). Much of this can be traced directly to popular misconceptions about the nature of science. This, in turn, can be linked to misrepresentation by those opposed to evolution, although inadequate or ineffective treatment by ill…

Although science is very successful at its business of explaining phenomena, it is not successful at explaining the nature of its own phenomenon: scientific inquiry. Absent understanding, myths, and misconceptions rush in. The author takes a closer look at the process of scientific inquiry, and presents a review of how scientists describe what…

Argues that declarative writing about science that presents historical or biographical information incorrectly is not acceptable. (WRM)

Notes that energy is a difficult concept to learn and provides problems for many students. Stresses that if the science education community were to develop a standard nomenclature of energy-related terms, it would be possible to eliminate some of the difficulties without reducing depth of treatment. (Author/MVL)

In science teaching, Aristotelian physics is often presented in a fragmentary and oversimplified way which distorts the true meaning of Aristotelian concepts. Discusses some mistakes that originate from a partial reading of Aristotle's work. Contains 32 references. (Author/WRM)

Answers a critique of the historical accuracy of the author's previous work. Argues that all science stories provide a source of material for analysis and synthesis of the nature of the scientific enterprise. (WRM)