• Question: why is science important?

    Asked by icecream19 to Matt, Amar on 17 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Matthew Lam

      Matthew Lam answered on 17 Mar 2014:

      Science is important because not only does it help us understand the world around us, it also allows us to make advances that benefit mankind. For example, science has led to a better understanding of the human body and human diseases so we have been able to develop effective ways to treat people in hospitals.

      Science also led to us understanding how elementary particles behave which led to the development of the ‘transistor’. This tiny piece of electronics could be the most important invention of the modern age as it has allowed us to build everything electronic that you use every day.

    • Photo: Amar Joshi

      Amar Joshi answered on 17 Mar 2014:

      As Matt says science is import for our understanding of the world and to advance our civilisation.

      One other way science is important is that it is the only way we have to test how we think about the world. In the 17th century people didn’t understand heat, pressure and vacuums. But some work by Robert Boyle and others helped to uncover some unknown properties and people started to use their work to build steam engines. They didn’t understand the significance of what they were working on, but for the following 200 years steam engines were at the heart of all industries.

      At the moment, people might not truly understand the significance of what they discover and the effects might not be revealed for a long time. But the continuation of science is important for humanity.

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