According to reviews of the Ham/Nye debate, Ham drew a hardline distinction between historical sciences and observational sciences. Nye countered by citing astronomy. Ham may well have overstated the case. But it's possible to overstate the case in both directions. Can we generalized about different branches of science? Is there an overlap between observational and historical science in every branch of science? Or does Ham's dichotomy hold in some branches of science, but not others? Likewise, which branches of science intersect with creation science? For instance, paleontology has a reputation for being a soft science.
On a different but perhaps slightly related note, many secularists have alleged Ham isn't a scientist. The fact is Ham studied biology (environmental) and then went on to get a diploma in education to be a science teacher.
ReplyDeleteNow let's look at Nye's background. Nye is an engineer (mechanical) by training. It's arguable engineering isn't "science" as such. Or at least it's arguable engineering is further removed from "science" than biology.
If Ham isn't a scientist due to his training, then what about Nye who's an engineer by training?
That said, I find such distinctions somewhat mired in the past. Perhaps it was true we could clearly demarcate biology from physics from engineering and so forth decades ago. But today there's considerable overlap, integration, and interdisciplinary research between seemingly disparate fields. Say, biology and physics as well as technology such as in biophysics, bioengineering, nanotechnology, systems biology, etc.
Phenomena are repeatable. Events are not. Experimental science deals with phenomena, by observing events and generalizing. Forensic science deals with events by applying principles from experimental science. So there is overlap between the two fields. But keeping the distinction between phenomena and events is paramount to understand the distinction between observational and historic science.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, that's the view of someone with no more than a B.S. degree, and who is therefore not qualified to speak about this issue at all.
Well, forensic science can use experiments to test hypotheses too.
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