Scientist Jordan makes a discovery and publishes the results for other scientists to read. Scientist Leesha tries to repeat the experiment and cannot make it work. Her results are also published. Scientist Jordan looks at his data again and finds that the discovery only works under certain conditions. He publishes the change. Now scientist Leesha repeats the new method and finds the same results as Jordan, but another scientist, Winslow, gets different results.

Question

What does this story demonstrate?
A.
that scientific knowledge is impossible to obtain
B.
that scientific knowledge results from a lot of debate and confirmation
C.
that scientists are really good at arguing
D.
that scientific knowledge is developed by individual scientists in isolation

Answer 1

B. that scientific knowledge results from a lot of debate and confirmation

This story illustrates the iterative nature of scientific inquiry, where discoveries are questioned, re-evaluated, and confirmed (or refuted) through the work of multiple scientists. The process involves experimentation, validation, and sometimes conflicting results, which contribute to the overall understanding of scientific knowledge.