The Scientific Odyssey

A discussion of why studying science is not only useful but necessary in today's world along with an explanation of inquiry and a brief tour of different fields and types of scientific research.

A discussion of three attributes that characterize scientific inquiry and distinguish it from from other types of research.  This includes a discussion of of the three levels of information gathering and methods of scientific communication.

A discussion of the progress of scientific ideas from hypotheses to laws to theories.  What makes each one different from the others and how does an idea start as a hypothesis and end up as a theory.

Tools and structures scientists use to move ideas forward and do scientific reasoning.  Models and organizing principles are discussed as is serendipity.  Basic reasoning structure is explained through deductive, inductive and abductive methods.

Unscripted thoughts on the landing of the Philae probe on comet 67P.

A discussion about some of the misconceptions people have about scientific inquiry and those who pursue it.  Topics include creativity in science, the moral obligation of science and scientism.

This podcast introduces a new series on the history of the atom and begins the discussion with the ideas of the earliest Greek philosophers beginning with Thales and culminating with the atomism of Democritus.

Here we work through the responses to Democritus' atomism by Plato, Aristotle and Epicurus.

In this episode, we look at how atomism survives 1500 years of opposition and neglect to reemerge after The Great Mortality.

In this supplemental episode we look at the scholarly work of the first of the great Arabic "hakim" and the foundations of developing a scientific method.

From Bruno to Boscovitch, this episode of the podcast suveys the development of the intellectual and experimental lanscape of Renaissance Europe as it moves closer to answer the question of the nature of matter.

An examination of the work in pneumatic chemistry from Black to Lavoisier that established chemistry as an fully experimental science.  A discussion of the rise and fall of the phlogiston hypothesis as a scientific case study is included.

A discussion of Carl Scheele, Joseph Priestly, Antoine Lavoisier and the discovery of oxygen.

Reflections on chemistry by Michel Eugene Chevreul on the occasion of his 100th birthday.

This episode discusses the life and contributions of John Dalton with particular focus on his development of the Billard Ball model of the atom.

A discussion of the development of the periodic table beginning with Prout's protyle and ending with Mendeleev.  Much of the material for this episode has been developed from Eric Scerri's, "The Periodic Table, Its Story and Its Significance."

In this episode, developments in electrochemistry by Berzelius, Faraday, Arrhenius, Oswald, van't Hoft and Werner are discussed.

This episode begins a multipart series discussing the discoveries at the turn of the 20th century that led to the downfall of Dalton's atom and a new understanding of the nature of matter.

This episode focuses on the work of JJ Thomson at the Cavendish laboratory that led to the discovery of the electron.