PrepTest 111, Section 2, Question 19
Philosophers of science have long been uneasy with(447 more words not shown)
It can be inferred from(15 more words not shown)
- Athe methods of(7 more words not shown)
- Bphysicists have been(10 more words not shown)
- Cbiology can only(15 more words not shown)
- Dthe specific laws(15 more words not shown)
- Eall scientific endeavors(8 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
These are the biologists from paragraph 2 who try to find their own versions of the law of gravity. They want universal laws for biology. The later biologists who question that approach are a different group, so keep their views separate.
What we’re looking for
Why copy physics? Our answer should connect that search for laws to what these biologists think science should be.
Working the answers
- A
We aren't told that nonscientists find physicists' methods easier to understand. Public accessibility isn't the motive supplied.
- B
The disdain for the merely particular can make this tempting. But we aren't told physicists receive more respect from fellow scientists or that the biologists are trying to gain that status. Their stated concern is the kind of explanation science requires.
- CCorrect
Paragraph 2 says the philosophers are not alone in claiming that scientific knowledge requires universally applicable principles, then describes biologists organizing their discipline around such principles. These biologists accept that standard and try to make biology satisfy it. That explains why physics is their model.
- D
They seek biological counterparts to physical laws, not the same planetary laws applied to biology. Their own versions of gravity doesn't mean using gravity itself to explain evolution.
- E
Nothing establishes this belief about all scientific endeavors. Imitating one field's approach doesn't show that they think every scientific activity benefits from exchange among disciplines.
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