TOK Lesson                   2/7/2017

Cholera Article

The article discussing the Cholera outbreak states that the disease could be airborne, implying that something in the air is making all the people fall ill. John Snow's hypothesis was that the cause of Cholera originated within the water pumps that the local residents were drawing from.

Evidence to support this includes residents who were actively withdrawing water from the well were falling ill, when the well was closed down Cholera cases began to drop and the causation evidence which is that human sewage was leaking into the waterway and is a proven cause of Cholera.

An experiment to back up John Snow's claims could be running chemical tests on the water or using animal test subjects to see if they would fall ill.




Natural sciences:

Natural sciences are a branch of science which deals with the physical world (chemistry, biology, physics, etc.) Natural sciences gain knowledge of the world through theories which are supported by evidence. Theories are proven or disproved through the scientific method which is a rigorous testing heme that ensures accurate results. Previous knowledge can be used to explain or find connections to the processes occurring in new investigations. They act as a form of template which makes it easier to construct further knowledge upon.

A specific experiment I can recall in science is the discovery of gravity. The researcher rigorously tested his theory to find out all the intrinsic parts which make up the phenomenon he described as gravity. These results were published and serve as a basis for modern education in physics.