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Draft of the Week [ about ]Scientists use a scientific method to investigate phenomena and acquire knowledge. They base the method on verifiable observation — i.e., on empirical evidence rather than on pure logic or supposition — and on the principles of reasoning. Scientists propose explanations — called 'hypotheses' — for their observed phenomena, and perform experiments to determine whether the results accord with (support) the hypotheses or falsify them. They also formulate 'theories' that encompass whole domains of inquiry, and which bind supported hypotheses together into logically coherent wholes. They refer to theories sometimes as ‘models’, which may or may not have a mathematical or computational basisThe technological achievements of the modern world have led many to conclude that the success of science stems from the methodological rules that scientists follow. Not all philosophers and scientists accept that conclusion, and some deny that science has a genuinely methodological process at all.[more...] New Draft of the Week [ about ]The McGuffey Readers, first published in 1836-37, were a set of highly influential school textbooks for use in the elementary and higher grades in the United States. Indeed, owing to their widespread usage over many years, they played an important role in shaping the American character itself. From the year in which they were first published, and for nearly a century thereafter, successive generations of American schoolchildren used these readers to acquire basic literacy skills and to imbibe the moral lessons they taught. William Holmes McGuffey (1800-73) was the author/compiler of the first four volumes of the first edition of what would eventually become a six-volume set of graded readers. In subsequent years, a series of editors took over the responsibility for the readers, which nevertheless were faithful in retaining their original character as moral shapers of youth. A major revision in 1879 altered the slant of the readers away from the stark Calvinism which had characterized the earlier versions, but did so without sacrificing the basic religious and moral objectives. The readers have sold over 125 million copies, and remain in demand among many who are dissatisfied with modern trends in education and seek a return to a more traditional, "values oriented" education of an earlier era.[more...] | ||||
