Poll: Is Biology A Science?

[SckizoBoy]

Well, I'd say that Mathematics is not scientific at all...

By my definition, science HAS to be experimental in some way, and seeing as how mathematics is purely deductive reasoning, I don't see how it could be.

Taken literally, maths is... but yeah, for the longest time, I was wondering 'and how does maths help me in the science lab...?' Don't get me wrong, I was good at maths, and loved it, but it's the subject that glues everything else together (bad analogy, I know), and why I enjoyed 'Donald in Mathmagicland' (awesome cartoon and good educational piece for kids, watch at first opportunity). Prevalence in the other scientific subjects is why it is considered one of the most important areas of study. Hell, I'm a biologist (after a fashion) and all I have to do is statistical analysis... chi-squared, chi-squared *significance*

 

[Daverson]

Science is the observation of real world mechanics and the creation of models to explain them. So of course biology is a science. Trying to disagree with this would be like arguing that gravity doesn't exist. Psychology and Sociology are too, by this definition.

Maths though, not too sure about that. It's more logic than science. Mathematics can be proven though real world observations, but it doesn't have to be derived from them.

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

... I wasn't aware that this actually needed questioning. Of course it's a science. It's as much a science as any other, including Physics.

 

[ace_of_something]

Of course it is.
Math people just like to inflate there sense of self-importance because so many of them were nerds of the 'bitter social outcast' variety. I mean look at 'a beautiful mind'

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Yeah, it is. It's studying and explaining how stuff (in this case, living stuff) works and why it happens. That makes it science, surely?

 

[Lukeje]

Discaimer: I think it is.

Anyway. My girlfriend takes the XKCD stance, whereby she claims that mathematics and physics are the only 'true' sciences, and that all aspects of biology are more akin to an art.

That's not the xkcd stance. The xkcd stance is that Physics and Mathematics are `purer' subjects, which I think very few would disagree with.

Edit: Grammar fail.

 

[Ca3zar416]

XKCD was talking about purity of expression. Math is in the end the ULTIMATE truth of the universe. Everything can eventually be broken down to it. Biology is still the observation and study. Denying Biology as science is like denying the that most medicine is science.

 

[Steve Fidler]

Biology is the study of Life. Life is a harmony of Energy and Matter.

Physics is the study of Energy; Chemistry is the study of Matter.

 

[Eisenfaust]

i agree with her that psychology isn't necessarily (a course i took ended up with "it's a science while it's similar to other hard sciences, and an art whenever it isn't"

but biology not being a science? just seems a little weird... it's like saying that the equations in physics aren't scientific because THEY'RE MATHEMATIC!!!! GRRR!!! which is again, weird...

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

I'm sorry, but couldn't you be equally glib by saying mathematics, then, isn't a science? <.<

Surely you see the mathematical implications of the world, but without perspective and clarity it's merely a set of numbers on a piece of paper that lack the ability to be communicated to others in any meaningful context.

Of course then you could argue all "sciences" aren't sciences without decades of examination into the field of epistemology to make sure you understand the mechanics behind cognition and information.

And then you could debate the apriori conundrums that stem from the as of yet unbridgeable gap between intuition and cognition ... how new ideas and preternatural concepts and constructs find meaning from the depths of your conciousness (or even deeper than that) to come to the fore of your waking thoughts in order to be tested through empirical logic.

So you could say, that ultimately ... there is no true "science" than philosophical pursuit. Understanding the mind beyond mechanics to answer time old questions like the first thought, or the formation of new ideas transcendental from aposteriori research and beyond common (or personal) experience.

'plain that ;P

Of course I'm a smartass and your girlfriend sounds like the type of person that would get on my nerves ... or be a very interesting conversationalist. Funny how the heart works like that.

 

[Atticus89]

Biology = Science.
Chemistry = Science.
Physics = Science.

Sociology, Psychology, Business, Economics are not.

Not sure about Maths.

Sociology, Economics, Business, and Psychology (to an extent) are called the social sciences. They're different from Biology, Chemistry, and Physics (natural sciences) on the basis that the social sciences deal with human society and how it operates whereas the natural sciences deal with how life, the universe, and everything operates.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Sociology, Economics, Business, and Psychology (to an extent) are called the social sciences. They're different from Biology, Chemistry, and Physics (natural sciences) on the basis that the social sciences deal with human society and how it operates whereas the natural sciences deal with how life, the universe, and everything operates.

Ack ... I was a forex retail trader and even I don't consider economics a science.

It's an art if nothing else.

 

[SilverUchiha]

The way I see it - if you get to wear a lab coat, you're doing science.

So can I wear a lab-coat while playing games and call that a science? Gameology? lol

 

[HannesPascal]

Of course it is. But I personally don't think Psychoanalysis is a science since it can't be falsified, for example denial equals proof.

 

[tjdavids]

btw you can test many more times in bio than in physics. I have had many a debate about this with my math major buddies.

 

[Lightnr]

Computer Science owns j00.

Also, all sciences are slaves to mathematics... Muahahahahahahahahaha!

 

[SckizoBoy]

The way I see it - if you get to wear a lab coat, you're doing science.

So can I wear a lab-coat while playing games and call that a science? Gameology? lol

Don't be so quick to dismiss it, there's a major field in maths called 'game theory' and it goes massively into the probabilities, possibilities and pathways in game progression (one of the most advanced ones being Shogi).

Go figure...

 

[Crimson_Dragoon]

Hell yes, and I will punch anyone in the face that says otherwise. Trying to tell me I'm not a scientist? I don't think so.

Seriously, though, biology uses the scientific method in order to answer questions about the world (more specifically, about life), so yes, it is a science. Maybe its not as "pure" as chemistry or physics, but that comes with the territory of studying something with so many variables like life.

 

[HerbertTheHamster]

Biology is a science, just like geology.

 

[ZydrateDealer]

Yes it is...but then here's a new way to think; your girlfriend is separating Art and Science but they both belong to free thinking and exploration of our world and ourselves...one is logical and the other is emotional. In short Art and Science are different sides of the same coin and as biology is about exploring ourselves and our in a logical way collecting data and what not it is more a science than an art...hell physics contains a lot of guess work and theories that have been proven mathematically...and yet there is not more solid evidence for these theories than sums and ideas.