Scientific Knowledge Is Durable but Can Evolve with New Evidence

From Project 2061 Chapter 1
Scientific Knowledge Is Durable
Although scientists reject the notion of attaining absolute truth and accept some uncertainty as part of nature, most scientific knowledge is durable. The modification of ideas, rather than their outright rejection, is the norm in science, as powerful constructs tend to survive and grow more precise and to become widely accepted. For example, in formulating the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein did not discard the Newtonian laws of motion but rather showed them to be only an approximation of limited application within a more general concept. (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration uses Newtonian mechanics, for instance, in calculating satellite trajectories.) Moreover, the growing ability of scientists to make accurate predictions about natural phenomena provides convincing evidence that we really are gaining in our understanding of how the world works. Continuity and stability are as characteristic of science as change is, and confidence is as prevalent as tentativeness.
Scientific Ideas Are Subject To Change
Science is a process for producing knowledge. The process depends both on making careful observations of phenomena and on inventing theories for making sense out of those observations. Change in knowledge is inevitable because new observations may challenge prevailing theories. No matter how well one theory explains a set of observations, it is possible that another theory may fit just as well or better, or may fit a still wider range of observations. In science, the testing and improving and occasional discarding of theories, whether new or old, go on all the time. Scientists assume that even if there is no way to secure complete and absolute truth, increasingly accurate approximations can be made to account for the world and how it works.
Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics
Let's look at an example where our understanding of the natural world has changed over time as new observations are made and new evidence is collected. In the article "Continents: A Jigsaw Puzzle With No Mechanism," we learn about how our understanding of the shape and structure of the Earth changed over time.
Note how this story illustrates that (1) scientific ideas develop over time, and (2) scientists do not vote on what the natural world is like. They do sometimes vote on what to call something or how to categorize it, but not how the natural world works. Much time (often decades) passes as scientific ideas emerge, develop and are eventually accepted or discarded.
Read the article "Continents: A Jigsaw Puzzle With No Mechanism" https://www.storybehindthescience.org/pdf/jigsaw.pdf
After reading the article "Continents: A Jigsaw Puzzle With No Mechanism," complete the following Continents Worksheet and submit it to the course Dropbox.