THE GAME OF SCIENCEDavid P. Maloney & Mark F. Masters

Adapted by Takoa Lawson for Great Neck North Science Dept.

The Nature of Scientific Investigations

We can imagine that this complicated array of moving things which constitutes ‘the universe’ is something like a great chess game being played, and we are observers of the game. We do not know what the rules of the game are; all we are allowed to do is to watch the playing. Of course, if we watch long enough, we may eventually catch on to a few of the rules. The rules of the universe are what we mean by fundamental physics. Richard Feynman

Thought Experiment

Imagine you were interested in understanding a game played by two opponents If you couldn’t communicate directly with

the players how would you go about trying to understand the game? What questions would you ask about the game? How could you obtain data or seek answers to

your questions? Would you want to collaborate with others? Is sharing the result(s) of the process

important?

Game Understanding Questions How many pieces does each player have? Are the turns symmetric (that is do the players have similar

roles in the game)? Do the players take turns? Do the pieces belong to individual players or are all the pieces

“community” pieces? What are the starting positions for the pieces? How do the pieces move? Do all of the pieces move the same way, or do different pieces

have different move patterns? If there are different move patterns, how many are there and what

are they? How does a player win the game? Can the game end in a draw?

Delta Game Practice Round

Player P Wins

Game Understanding Questions How many pieces does each player have? Are the turns symmetric (that is do the players have similar

roles in the game)? Do the players take turns? Do the pieces belong to individual players or are all the pieces

“community” pieces? What are the starting positions for the pieces? How do the pieces move? Do all of the pieces move the same way, or do different pieces

have different move patterns? If there are different move patterns, how many are there and what

are they? How does a player win the game? Can the game end in a draw?

Game Play Conclusions (Theories) The starting position theory

The legal moves theory

The winning theory

Gamma Game Round 1

Player Brown Wins

Gamma Game Round 2

Player Brown Wins

Gamma Game Round 3

Player Brown Wins

Understanding the Universe

The basic processes and reasoning behind easily observed phenomenon Describe the processes and reasoning

behind complicated or difficult to observe phenomenon

Develop the skills and knowledge to participate readily and fully Recognizing advantages, risks, and costs of

knowledge and technology

The “Games” in Physics

A fundamental component of science is asking questions skillfully and making extremely careful observations

Questions we want to ask about our universe pertain to the following topics

Light Energy Mechanics Electricity Electromagnetism Waves Thermal Physics Electronics Atomic Physics

The Scientific Method

Our agreed upon strategy to better understand the games the universe is playing

The Scientific Method

The Scientific Method