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The secret to scientific discoveries? Making mistakes | Phil Plait

TED Talks Daily

The secret to scientific discoveries? Making mistakes | Phil Plait

Phil Plait was on a Hubble Space Telescope team of astronomers who thought they may have captured the first direct photo of an exoplanet ever taken. But did the evidence actually support that? Follow along as Plait shows how science progresses -- through a robust amount of making and correcting errors. "The price of doing science is admitting when you're…

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Notes

  1. Is Science Just a Big Pile of Facts? at 0:38

    A big misconception is that science is just a big pile of facts. Science is actually a process and a way of thinking. Full answer

  2. What Does Phil Plait Say Is the Ultimate Goal of Science? at 0:58

    On TED Talks Daily, Phil Plait says the ultimate goal of science is to understand objective reality as well as we can, from evidence. Full answer

  3. What Is One of Science’s Strengths and Weaknesses at 3:19

    It’s done by people. We understand the universe well due to science. However, its weakness is that it's done by people! Full answer

  4. What Does Phil Plait Say Is Part of the Scientific Method? at 3:58

    On TED Talks Daily, Phil Plait says the scientific method includes admitting when you are wrong. Full answer

  5. What Scientific Discovery Occured in 1995 at 9:51

    A planet was found orbiting a star like the sun. Observatories were designed to seek for more of these planets. Full answer

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