After hearing some of Mala Radhakrishnan’s poetry in class this week, I was inspired to look up further examples of scientific concepts that had been captured by poetry. In my research I came across a poem written by the 16th century … Continue reading
Acting out the case study with Kuru and the tribe from Papua New Guinea solidified my understanding of the scientific process as well as how physicians (and anthropologists) perform their analyses and the shortcomings of each one. I was definitely … Continue reading
I found the article ‘From Prion Diseases to Prion-Like Propagation Mechanisms of Neurodegenerative Diseases’ quite difficult to understand, as I do not have any kind of scientific background to assimilate it. While the movies were helpful in giving a clearer … Continue reading
Through extensive research, collaboration, and ultimately the death of a chimpanzee, scientists were able to establish that Kuru is a bacterial disease. This identification raises obvious ethical questions regarding the reach and scope of scientific research. Furthermore, it demonstrates many … Continue reading
During the case study we performed in class, I was expecting the physicians’ group to find out a more complete answer than the anthropologists’. The fact that the contrary happened led me to think about what we expect of science … Continue reading
During last class, I really understood the importance of different fields and how they can interact with each other. For instance, I really expected the physicians to be able to decypher more about the disease that was present rather than … Continue reading
Reading the article The Nature of Science and the Scientific Method, I enjoyed the reminder that we must remember that science is limited by factors such as the possibility that a scientific explanation is not absolute (thereby requiring that scientific … Continue reading
I found it so great that in the Protein Database reading, they reference the cannibalism in Papua New Guinea that we studied earlier this week. It is great to be able to refer back to our knowledge of the case … Continue reading
It’s very clear that the article we are reading is not written for laypeople, but scientists. In terms of an academic article, I understood the wording but not many of the words, though I would no doubt have understood them … Continue reading
The case study allowed me to practice the scientific method for the first time in two and a half years. After talking to the anthropologists, I also realized that scientists are not the only people who approach a question in … Continue reading