Biology Not a Science? I Prove It!

[Pengwuino]

I believe I have found proof that infact, biology is NOT a science.

My proof is as followed:

1) There are too many good looking chicks who are biology majors

This is self-explanatory

2) Biology is in the news too much (evolution)

People are not interested in science. People are interested and talk about evolution. Thus, Biology can't be a science.

3) People do not recoil when you say "biologist"

People are amazed and in awe upon uttering the fact that you are a "physicist" or "chemist" (and a few others, except geology, no one is scared of geologists). This is not true of biologists.

4) There is too much memorization

Where are the formulas? Science without formulas is like Italians without spaghetti.

5) Nothing explosive is made

Explosive things are the secret "coolness" of science. Biology doesn't like to blow things up. I do.

6) People don't mispell "biology"

Ok I guess this only is a problem with physics (seriously people, there is only 1 'i' in physics and no 'k')... but I'm still using it. Tough.

7) Biologists seen on tv are women much of the time, not men with receeding hairlines, thus, biology isn't a science

Only men with receeding hairlines do science. Except one of my chemistry professors, but that's just because he's awesome.

I shall approach my university with this proof of biology not being a science so that I may replace it with a journalism class.

 

[Entropy]

People are amazed and in awe upon uttering the fact that you are a "physicist" or "chemist"

Yep, one of the many perks of being a physics major, people's jaws drop when you mention it. I know my parents brag about it all the time.

Anyways, biology and chemistry are just primitive degenerates of almighty physics.

 

[iansmith]

1) There are too many good looking chicks who are biology majors
This is self-explanatory

Since when does being a loser is requirement for a scientifist. You have to know how to mix pleasure with business and biology major guy know how to do this. Therefore they are smatter

2) Biology is in the news too much (evolution)
People are not interested in science. People are interested and talk about evolution. Thus, Biology can't be a science.

You forgot cancer, drugs, etc. It is not biology fault if it talks about thing that are real and has an effect on people. It is not as if people care if a new planet is discovered.

3) People do not recoil when you say "biologist"
People are amazed and in awe upon uttering the fact that you are a "physicist" or "chemist" (and a few others, except geology, no one is scared of geologists). This is not true of biologists.

I always get people to awe when I say I am doing a PhD in microbiology. People also thin I will make tones of money. If you said your doing a PhD in physics or math they would think you are idiot without future.

4) There is too much memorization
Where are the formulas? Science without formulas is like Italians without spaghetti.

there is formula in biology. You did not look hard enough. Try to calculate the growth rate of a bacteria without a formula. We have to calculate the time that separate two specie with mutation rate.

5) Nothing explosive is made
Explosive things are the secret "coolness" of science. Biology doesn't like to blow things up. I do.

Try to give a cigarette to a frog.

6) People don't mispell "biology"
Ok I guess this only is a problem with physics (seriously people, there is only 1 'i' in physics and no 'k')... but I'm still using it. Tough.

I have seen people mispell biology. You did not look hard enough.

7) Biologists seen on tv are women much of the time, not men with receeding hairlines, thus, biology isn't a science
Only men with receeding hairlines do science. Except one of my chemistry professors, but that's just because he's awesome.

TV is not reallity. My old and my current supervisor have receeding hair line. 50% of the male falculty in my department have receeding hairline. Again you are not looking hard enough.

In conclusion, your research was poorly done and don't blame biology if it is cool and you are not.

 

[Pengwuino]

Yep, one of the many perks of being a physics major, people's jaws drop when you mention it. I know my parents brag about it all the time.

One of my professors use to say something to the effect of "If you're ever on an airplane with someone you want to talk to, tell them that you are a physicist. If you don't want to talk to them, say you are a 'nuclear physicist' and if you REALLY don't want to talk to them, say you are an 'atomic physicist' ".

 

[Pengwuino]

Again you are not looking hard enough.

Way to suck the fun outa this thread

 

[Entropy]

Yeah, thanks a lot ian.

 

[iansmith]

My pleasure. That's what scientist do.

 

[Pengwuino]

Yah I mean come on, when Entropy comes in, it should be fairly obvious nothing intelligent is going to be said in this thread :P

 

[Pengwuino]

Does anyone know where my high school physics Ap study guide is...

 

[Entropy]

Bha! I didn't need it and I got a 4.

 

[Pengwuino]

I got a 1

basically because i dropped at the semester and all we ever did was rocket launches.

I want to see how much i was suppose to know by high school.

 

[matthyaouw]

3) People do not recoil when you say "biologist"

People are amazed and in awe upon uttering the fact that you are a "physicist" or "chemist" (and a few others, except geology, no one is scared of geologists). This is not true of biologists.

Physicists are harmless, and if you are not scared of geologists, you really need to rethink this.
You should be more than a little cautious of anyone who:
-Cannot go for a quiet walk without taking a sizable hammer.
-Will happily undermine an unstable cliff face or landslide foot in persuit of a good ammonite, with no regard to their safety, or safety of anyone around them.
-knows precisely how hard your skull is in relation to the mineral samples on his desk/in his pocket.
-Can tell you what kind of fossil you'll leave, and how future palaeontologists would interpret it.

 

[Pengwuino]

I'm not scared, the kinetic energy of a comet will fix the geologist good.

 

[Chi Meson]

Does anyone know where my high school physics Ap study guide is...

Goodness Gracious me! Why, it's right here...
Hmm, you doodle a lot.
...
...lots of exploding thngs...
...
I guess you liked Mariah Carey.
...
...Whoop! no, MC goes boom... that's' kinda sick

 

[chound]

There is too much memorization
Where are the formulas? Science without formulas is like Italians without spaghetti.

Try searching floral formula in google
What about genetics, you should be able to predict phenotypes, genotypes for which you can't memorise all the possible combinations.
Biology is a convergence of physics and chemistry.
The part about cute chicks is true though, coz of all the science sections in our school my class(Bio group) has got good looking chicks though very few in number.

5) Nothing explosive is made

Explosive things are the secret "coolness" of science. Biology doesn't like to blow things up. I do.

Biology helps to clean up the damage after the bomb blasts i.e. medicine
Check bioweapons like anthrax, etc wouldn't have been possible. Biology creates silent killers using very little of resources but causes a lot of damage.

 

[cronxeh]

Try to give a cigarette to a frog.

Well that's it, ian, you not coming anywhere near my frogs, reptiles or turtles

You evil.. evil man!

 

[Monique]

I believe I have found proof that infact, biology is NOT a science.

Is that supposed to be fun, or ignorant?
and.. ever heard of exploding frogs?

 

[Pengwuino]

Is that supposed to be fun, or ignorant?

Its GE to us university students.

You non-physicists have no idea :P

 

[nazgjunk]

Most non-physicists have no idea, but neither do I, being a 17 year old annoying geek who is, at times, still rather desperately trying to understand special and general relativity. It's so fun to try an explain it to people when you haven't got a clue yourself either...

 

[Monique]

Tell me how special and general relativity impacts on today's society, how it benefits our world? And how many people who say biology isn't a science, would say that string theory is?

 

[Lisa!]

I believe I have found proof that infact, biology is NOT a science.

My proof is as followed:

1) There are too many good looking chicks who are biology majors

Jealous!

 

[nazgjunk]

Tell me how special and general relativity impacts on today's society, how it benefits our world? And how many people who say biology isn't a science, would say that string theory is?

Monique is taking this all far too serious, I feel it in my bones...

And IMHO, string theory is hardly science. I can agree with you on that one.

 

[cronxeh]

Monique is taking this all far too serious, I feel it in my bones...
And IMHO, string theory is hardly science. I can agree with you on that one.

"String theory is Mathematics on LSD"

(c) cronxeh

 

[JasonRox]

This explains why Pengwuino hasn't picked up any of those good looking chicks.

You might want to find a better opening line.

 

[cronxeh]

This explains why Pengwuino hasn't picked up any of those good looking chicks.
You might want to find a better opening line.

Ever since i switched from Mechanical Engineering to Premed I've seen a 500% increase in female-to-male ratio in classes Cant complain, it motivates you to go to class

 

[Tsu]

Since when does being a loser is requirement for a scientifist. You have to know how to mix pleasure with business and biology major guy know how to do this. Therefore they are smatter
You forgot cancer, drugs, etc. It is not biology fault if it talks about thing that are real and has an effect on people. It is not as if people care if a new planet is discovered.
I always get people to awe when I say I am doing a PhD in microbiology. People also thin I will make tones of money. If you said your doing a PhD in physics or math they would think you are idiot without future.
there is formula in biology. You did not look hard enough. Try to calculate the growth rate of a bacteria without a formula. We have to calculate the time that separate two specie with mutation rate.
Try to give a cigarette to a frog.
I have seen people mispell biology. You did not look hard enough.
TV is not reallity. My old and my current supervisor have receeding hair line. 50% of the male falculty in my department have receeding hairline. Again you are not looking hard enough.
In conclusion, your research was poorly done and don't blame biology if it is cool and you are not.

So... Biologists are 'smatter', huh? Ian, I think you either have rented fingers or you just blew your credibility all to hell!

 

[iansmith]

So... Biologists are 'smatter', huh? Ian, I think you either have rented fingers or you just blew your credibility all to hell!

It is hard to write when you are hangover. Also, english is not my first language.

 

[BobG]

So... Biologists are 'smatter', huh? Ian, I think you either have rented fingers or you just blew your credibility all to hell!

I think smatter is one of those technical statistics terms that business/biology majors use. They like to use those XY smatter charts in Excel. Or maybe that's the business/art majors that use those - unless they use 'splatter charts', but I think the folks training to become EMTs use those.

 

[Monique]

I think iansmith 'smatters'

smat·ter Audio pronunciation of "smatter" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (smtr)
v. smat·tered, smat·ter·ing, smat·ters
v. tr.

1. To speak (a language) without fluency.

 

[Tsu]

It is hard to write when you are hangover. Also, english is not my first language.

Hangover, smangover. No excuses, my lad. You are hereby arrested by the Grammer Police. You'll have to come down to the station with me. Come along, now...

 

[BobG]

I believe I have found proof that infact, biology is NOT a science.

My proof is as followed:

1) There are too many good looking chicks who are biology majors

This is self-explanatory

The number of good looking chicks majoring in biology has nothing to do with whether biology is a science or not.

I think it has more to do with the fact that women tend to be more obsessed with sex than men. Having sex isn't enough for them. They have to study every detail about it, including when and how other species do it.

For men, sex may be something fun to do in the backseat of a car, but as soon as its over, they're on to more pressing matters, such as:

Guy: "Aha! That's it. That's definitely it!"

Girl: "What's it?"

Guy: "See that 'star'? It was by that other group of stars before we started and now it's next to this group of stars over here! That's definitely a geosynchronous satellite. In fact, it's the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite intended to prove that a Ka Band system with onboard switching could reliably provide digital integrated services for all types of applications and data rates, and operate seamlessly with terrestrial networks. It's currently out of fuel, so the operators from the John Glenn Space Operations Center near Cleveland positioned it in a gravity valley and let the inclination drift to extend its life. It will eventually drift up to an inclination of about 15 degrees, then drift back down into an equatorial orbit, all within the next 26 to 27 years or so."

To which the biology major is sure to ignorantly reply, "But, isn't that star in the Southwest? I thought Cleveland was Northeast of us."

(Of course, this wouldn't apply to Evo. She would be fascinated that there's bandwidth beyond Ku and that it could be used just as effectively. )

 

[Math Is Hard]

Hangover, smangover. No excuses, my lad. You are hereby arrested by the Grammer Police. You'll have to come down to the station with me. Come along, now...

Grammer?

You are hereby arrested by the Spelling Police. You'll have to come along with me. Bring your prisoner, as well!

 

[cronxeh]

Or maybe that's the business/art majors that use those - unless they use 'splatter charts', but I think the folks training to become EMTs use those.

Hey leave me outa this!

 

[Evo]

(Of course, this wouldn't apply to Evo. She would be fascinated that there's bandwidth beyond Ku and that it could be used just as effectively. )

Damn, you have a good memory. Wasn't that thread about the effects of rain on transmissions? Or was that whiskers on kittens?

 

[Kalouste]

Certainly, I agree that Biology is all about memorization. But we all know that memorization is a function of the brain. It's widely obvious. Well, how can we know that? Why is it obvious? Due to the study of brain functions, by a discipline called Biology.

I would define science, informally, as the willing to discover due to insatiable curiousity. Biology is all about discovering the biosphere that surrounds us. And Karl Popper defined science in his book, Logic of Scientic Discovery. And I can assure you, Biology fits in that category.

Rutherfor said something like this: "All science is either physics or stamp collecting. And I hate stamps.". Well, he won the Chemistry Nobel Prize in 1908. Does it sounds familiar to you?

Physics are very important to Biology that's for sure. But Physics are just a tool to Biology, like Biology is equally able to be a tool to Chemistry (for example). In conclusion, all science is important but you can allways have a preferred one.

If you want to prove your point of view, start by reviewing your post's fallacies and read something about the matter to help you.

PS: Sorry for my english.

Usefull Links

http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/popper_falsification.html"

 

[cronxeh]

Certainly, I agree that Biology is all about memorization. But we all know that memorization is a function of the brain. It's widely obvious. Well, how can we know that? Why is it obvious? Due to the study of brain functions, by a discipline called Biology.

I would define science, informally, as the willing to discover due to insatiable curiousity. Biology is all about discovering the biosphere that surrounds us. And Karl Popper defined science in his book, Logic of Scientic Discovery. And I can assure you, Biology fits in that category.

Rutherfor said something like this: "All science is either physics or stamp collecting. And I hate stamps.". Well, he won the Chemistry Nobel Prize in 1908. Does it sounds familiar to you?

Physics are very important to Biology that's for sure. But Physics are just a tool to Biology, like Biology is equally able to be a tool to Chemistry (for example). In conclusion, all science is important but you can allways have a preferred one.

PS: Sorry for my english.

Usefull Links

http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/popper_falsification.html"

You know that saying that Biology is really Chemistry is really Physics is really Mathematics is really Philosophy? Well then.. carry on

 

[neurocomp2003]

lol and physics and math is not about memorization? what happen to those fundamental formulas? Granted biology probably has more fundamentals because its scale or field maybe larger but math still has its memorizable formulas.
I think there are better looking girls in psychology...and if you don't call psychology a science i'ma shoot you all...

sucks thought that when i got my yearbook, it say s I'm a psych major ARGH!

 

[Monique]

Certainly, I agree that Biology is all about memorization.

Why is that, I really don't see. The only thing I need memorized is what the one letter abbreviations of amino acids are, or what the pairing of the different bases is. To practice biology you need to have a thorough understanding of physics, chemistry, mathematics and statistics (AND biological systems). I know plenty of people who are biologists and go to CERN or NMR-institutes to decipher the structures of biological molecules and use that to their advantage in their studies.

 

[Kalouste]

I think Biology is much more about memorization than physics, math, etc. Why? Well, if you don't know a formula in math for example, you can infer it with some calculations (many formulas). In Biology you would have to do experiments to prove if the formula or the statement you're referring to is true. We don't have that time, so we memorize it (concerning to the great majority of biology stuff, I feel this). Probably I don't know enough to discuss this matter (I don't know much about Biology) so I might be wrong. What do you think?

PS: Monique you said it well (I can't express myself in proper english): Physics, math need Biology (eg. Someone that deals with DNA in statistic needs to know some Biology, even if their background is statistic.). And Biology needs the other disciplines. In the end it's all about science.

 

[___]

biology has much more memorisations (much more than formulas). its like remember the name of every plant found in (place your country). how many species of animals can be found in (place your country)?
what is the scientific name of mushroom.
what are the life stages of a bee...
which animal's RBC doesn't have a nucleus in it?
what parasite causes malaria?
what is the bone of thigh called?
OMG, why the hell do i have to learn all that and get bad reports if i can't remember it all?
this is why biology has much memorisations.

 

[Astronuc]

"See that 'star'? It was by that other group of stars before we started and now it's next to this group of stars over here! That's definitely a geosynchronous satellite. In fact, it's the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite intended to prove that a Ka Band system with onboard switching could reliably provide digital integrated services for all types of applications and data rates, and operate seamlessly with terrestrial networks. It's currently out of fuel, so the operators from the John Glenn Space Operations Center near Cleveland positioned it in a gravity valley and let the inclination drift to extend its life. It will eventually drift up to an inclination of about 15 degrees, then drift back down into an equatorial orbit, all within the next 26 to 27 years or so."

Good one Bob, worthy of a PF Technology or Engineering Guru. Actually, that would probably describe me, although I didn't know about the bandwidth part.

She would be fascinated that there's bandwidth beyond Ku and that it could be used just as effectively.

Strangely, I would find such a woman very appealing. Watching stars together would be very romantic.

As for biology and memorization, in chemistry one has to memorize elements, componds, reactions, . . . etc, and in phyiscs, one has to memorize particles and their characteristics, conservation laws, forumulas (some of which can be derived), and so on, and even in math, there is a certain amount of memorization. All have to do with some understanding of the universe.

 

[mattmns]

In my abstract algebra class we had definition quizzes! If that is not memorization I don't know what is.

 

[arildno]

I think Biology is much more about memorization than physics, math, etc. Why?

To the extent that this is true, it is just that the subject field is, simply speaking, intractable to mathematical modelling. To establish a system of differential equations whose solution would capture&predict, say, the behaviour of an organism is way too difficult. (Not to mention the computing power you'd need to set aside in order to SOLVE the equations..)

 

[JasonRox]

In my abstract algebra class we had definition quizzes! If that is not memorization I don't know what is.

Really good point.

Also, if you did forget a formula, would you really want to work it out all over again (if a long one)? I definitely wouldn't, especially not during an exam, so I guess it's best to memorize. This for applied mathematics of course.

 

[Moonbear]

In conclusion, your research was poorly done and don't blame biology if it is cool and you are not.

Well said, Ian!

*Deducts 10 GOOBF cards from Penguwino.*

 

[cronxeh]

Biologists are hippies anyway..

 

[Moonbear]

Biologists are hippies anyway..

Hardly! If I had more time, I'd argue more with you all, but I'm going to spoil all your fun and disappear to do an actual experiment (and now that there's an inch of snow on the ground, I need to leave extra time to get out).

 

[Monique]

I think Biology is much more about memorization than physics, math, etc. Why? Well, if you don't know a formula in math for example, you can infer it with some calculations (many formulas).

Some others said it already, but you wouldn't want to re-invent some physical theory right? You would probably memorize it or at least make a mental note. Your calculations are our experiments. It's like those particle colliders. You don't do the experiment over and over again, you publish the data and refer to the information when needed.

I once did a course of rheology, I had to memorize all those fluid dynamical formulas.. that wasn't fun. Or radioactive decay where you have to memorize the different half times of radioactive isotopes, know how they decay and the formula how to calculate how long it takes before it has decayed to appropriate levels. Memorization is everywhere.

 

[shmoe]

In my abstract algebra class we had definition quizzes! If that is not memorization I don't know what is.

Every subject has memorization in this form, you have to learn the language used in a particular field before you have any hope of understanding what's going on.

 

[Monique]

biology has much more memorisations (much more than formulas). its like remember the name of every plant found in (place your country). how many species of animals can be found in (place your country)?
what is the scientific name of mushroom.
what are the life stages of a bee...
which animal's RBC doesn't have a nucleus in it?
what parasite causes malaria?
what is the bone of thigh called?
OMG, why the hell do i have to learn all that and get bad reports if i can't remember it all?
this is why biology has much memorisations.

What different sub-atomic particles come out of a neutron, what are the spins of all the different quarks, what is the name of the 3rd orbit of the electron, demonstrate the aufbauw principle, what atom has the weight of 15.999, what is the third planet from the sun, in what galaxy are we in, how does uranium decay, blablabla.