Chapter 1 response

In the first chapter, Steven Darksyde asks the fundamental question: "What is science?" He answers it very simply, in a way that someone like me could understand. Considering that I'm an English major who hasn't taken a science course since high school, this is quite an accomplishment. He states that science is simply the process of observing, hypothesizing, testing, making conclusions, and repeating as many times as necessary. Later on, he makes the interesting point that though logic plays a role in science, imagination plays an equally important role.

Scientific methodology is a way to explain things that we cannot fully understand--things like gravity and the laws of thermodynamics. However, that is only true for physical things that we cannot explain. Supernatural claims, be they as radical as UFO sightings or as commonplace as belief in a higher power, are not scientifically testable. I agree with this distinction that the author makes. I also like how he makes a point of saying that science is neutral--neither good nor evil.