• Question: What is science?

    Asked by emily to Amy, Helen, Nicolas, Daniel, Thorrun on 10 Jun 2017. This question was also asked by Iesha Ahmed.
    • Photo: Helen Frost

      Helen Frost answered on 10 Jun 2017:

      Hmmmm, that’s a really good question! I think ‘science’ is asking a question and then doing tests to help you to find the answer. The thing I didn’t really realise until I went to university is that you have to do lots of different tests, and repeat them a few times, before you can be sure of the answer. There isn’t always an obvious answer, and in real science you’re not trying to convince someone else that you know the answer: you’re trying to convince yourself of the answer. If you do multiple tests which all give corroborating results, then you can trust them, if they don’t, then you re-evaluate your question and think of another way to find out the answer, and build up in stages until you can convince yourself of the answer.

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