The Importance of Science

by Zain Da Pain, Oct 4, 2007

Is Science important? The answer lies right in front of our eyes. Think about a world without technology. No computers, no cars. No vaccines or cures for diseases. Life would be joyless and extremely hard. It was not long ago that this was the case. How ever, now with science on our side it's a whole new story.

The scientific information we studied in Unit 1 - “Setting the Standards” is important to everyone. We have learned about identifying Substances using properties, Safety around us (WHMIS) and Physical and Chemical changes. Scientific research has helped us establish many different physical and chemical properties. Appearance, Texture, Colour, Solubility, Combustibility and taste are just a few to name. These have all been discovered through scientific research and experiments. These properties help us describe and identify matter when required. They can also be used to describe and differentiate substances. That is not all; scientific research has helped us describe the effects of these different substances. WHMIS symbols have been created from scientific research to represent caution or a hazard in a substance. Without these symbols, we could seriously hurt our selves when handling substances not identified.

Materials in our daily lives need to be identified for our safety. Who knows when you'll touch something highly corrosive or toxic? That just might be the end of your repertory system! Ever wondered how and why these substances change? Science has the answer. There are two different types of matter changes. One is called Physical change and the other is called Chemical change. In a physical change, the substance remains the same but it changes its state or form. An example of this would be water freezing into ice. The substance has remained the same but its state has changed. A chemical change is when the substance changes into one or more different substances with different properties. The substance can not be changed back to how it started. All of this information is discovered through scientific research. Think about how much a loss it would be to ignore this info by thinking Science is a waste.

Without science, we would not advance in our technology. The thermometers we use to find the temperature of substances or our selves would not have been created. We would be struggling. We use diverse machines to measure and investigate different physical and chemical properties. Microscopes, heating devices and stylus's are all used to find physical properties of substances. We use computers to predict what we believe will happen. Using computers, labeling of different WHMIS symbols is also done. These labels tell us what precautions to take before using the substance. Remember this is for OUR safety. So without science, we would not be safe at all.

Microscopes are very important. They are used to identify cells inside the toxic material. The toxic material is different from others because its cells are different. Without science, we would not have technology thus leading us to not have any microscopes. Meaning we would not be able to tell the difference in the cells of a normal substance than a toxic substance. Refrigerators, ovens, stoves and microwaves would not have been invented if it wasn't for science. It would be hard for us to cool and heat food fast. Also it would be hard to find the physical and chemical changes that occur when we heat or cool things. Finding the freezing point of water would be a rather difficult task. These would be problems that we would find when trying to measure, identify or investigate substances without technology.

Science affects our daily lives, our society. The food we drink the air we breathe, the shelter we live in, all of these have to be perfect in order for us to survive. The substances we use in our daily lives need identifying. We might eat something thinking its something else. That something could turn out to be poisonous or harmful to our body in some way. That is why, identifying matter through properties is important to our society. With science on our side, we have a way of identifying different types of matter shall it be from taste, its shape or its colour or any other physical or chemical property.

The same problem could occur with us if we don't have a way of identifying substances with WHMIS symbols. Without WHMIS, any unknown substance would be unsafe. We could end up dieing or doing permanent damage to our body or our skin. Without science there would be no WHMIS, meaning no precautions would be listed on any material we would buy. No possible risks would be listed on the substance and neither would there be first aid treatment listed on the substance. Our safety would be at a high risk. That is exactly the reason why we need science.

The reason that science is important to our environment is the fact that we need it to help describe, identify and explain nature. Minerals found on earth could be important substances. Sodium chloride is an example of such a mineral. Some substances found on earth could be harmful and dangerous. That is why we need to know how to identify substances using its physical and chemical properties. We would also need to know which material is poisonous, dangerously reactive or combustible. This can only be done with the WHMIS symbols. Once a material has been listed in the WHMIS “substance” list, people would know how it can harm the environment and how it can pollute the air. An example of this would be compressed gas.

Compressed gas is contains very high pressure, and if not handled properly it could explode. When it explodes, it would pollute the air making it unstable to breathe. With WHMIS, we are able to tell how to dispose of the gas properly. The problem is related to the one in the water cycle. When water goes through its physical change from water to water vapor, the vapor is purified. When it reaches up in the sky, it mixes in with the pollution such as sulphur monoxide and other gases.

This makes the fresh water filthy causing acid rain. That is why we should stop pollution and burning of fossil fuels. We would not know this information if it wasn't for the fact that we had science. Science has aided us in showing and simplifying our problems. Without it we'd be at a great loss.

In conclusion, I would like to say that Science is 100% important to everyone! Without Science our lives would be going no where. We would be struggling a lot if it wasn't for all the scientific theories and knowledge. Our safety would be at a very high risk and our society would be utterly frustrated. We would not be able to classify substance based on their properties or their toxic effects. That is why I believe that the scientific knowledge we have learned in Unit 1 - “Setting the Standards” is high important. I hope you agree with that fact as well.

Adapted from: http://www.scienceray.com/Philosophy-of-Science/The-Importance-of-Science.119458