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Woodpecker
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03 Feb 2011, 11:07 am

Sorry antonblock but I would rather not give out my exact subject within chemistry, as then I would have a trail of bread crumbs to my lab door. All I will say is that I have done both the practical and the theory side of my subject.

By the way I am male.


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antonblock
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05 Feb 2011, 6:42 am

Thanks for your interesting answer! But how does theory look like in your subject?

thanks,
Anton



Woodpecker
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05 Feb 2011, 8:25 am

What does theory look like? Good question ?

I would say that a theory is a hypothesis or fantasy which explains the reality (observable facts) as we see them. The creation of the theory is often an inductive reasoning process. The theory then needs to be tested by experiment to establish if it is wrong or not.

For example copper sulphate is blue, it is blue because it absorbs red light. We then have ligand field theory which explains why copper sulphate is blue and why the tetraaminocopper(II) complex is a deeper blue in colour. Maybe you should ask the other WP scientists what they think about what a theory is.

Years ago I asked a retired military officer what type of officer he was when he was in the military. His reply is similar to my reply about what kind of scientist I am. His reply was "An officer type of officer". My view of what I am a "scientist type of scientist, but I have specialist training in chemistry". The thing about being a good (or even average) professional scientist is that you acquire skills such as the ability to think in a scientific manner. Hence I am able to express an expert opinion on the scientific reasoning of people from other fields as long as they are willing to show their reasoning in public.


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Health is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity :alien: I am not a jigsaw, I am a free man !

Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.


syrella
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05 Feb 2011, 8:48 am

I'm a student right now. I graduated with a degree in Japanese language. In undergrad, I studied stuff like computer science and game design before settling on the language side of things. It didn't stick for too long, though, and I came back from Japan wanting to do something different. :oops:

So now I'd like to go to medical school and become a physician of some sort, possibly a psychiatrist. Whatever the case, I want to be a part of academia and do research of some sort. That's the idea, anyhow.


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syrella
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05 Feb 2011, 9:00 am

Woodpecker wrote:
What does theory look like? Good question ?

I would say that a theory is a hypothesis or fantasy which explains the reality (observable facts) as we see them. The creation of the theory is often an inductive reasoning process. The theory then needs to be tested by experiment to establish if it is wrong or not.

For example copper sulphate is blue, it is blue because it absorbs red light. We then have ligand field theory which explains why copper sulphate is blue and why the tetraaminocopper(II) complex is a deeper blue in colour. Maybe you should ask the other WP scientists what they think about what a theory is.

I've only taken the base level classes like general and organic chemistry, but from my view, theory is anything that is used as an explanation for experimental results. Both theory and experimental results go hand in hand. A great theory that doesn't match the lab results either means the theory is wrong or there was an error in the experiment. Experimental results that aren't explained by a theory can indicate a gap in the theory or the existence of experimental error. Which is which is up to debate. The general idea, though, is that science is based upon testable hypothesizes. Nothing in science is "sacred" and just because a theory is old and well accepted doesn't mean it can't be updated in lieu of new evidence. That's the beauty of it all.


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Frieslander
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05 Feb 2011, 3:07 pm

according my Webster's computer dictionary, the definition of theory is


1. Obs. a mental viewing; contemplation
2. a speculative idea or plan as to how something might be done
3. a systematic statement of principles involved [the theory of equations in mathematics]
4. a formulation of apparent relationships or underlying principles of certain observed phenomena which has been verified to some degree
5. that branch of an art or science consisting in a knowledge of its principles and methods rather than in its practice; pure, as opposed to applied, science, etc.
6. popularly a mere conjecture, or guess