Re: [asa] Untestable -- Is it Science?

Of course. It depends on the theory, not all of them are testable. But if a theory of animal behavior predicts certain findings, and those findings are able to be preserved in the fossil record then the theory can be tested.

BTW I heard of a camp at that museum for kids, where you get to spend and evening and then sleep over one night inside the museum, have you heard about that?
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: David Opderbeck
  To: ASA List
  Sent: Friday, June 06, 2008 10:21 PM
  Subject: [asa] Untestable -- Is it Science?

  I spent a lovely afternoon today with my ten year old son at the Museum of Natural History in New York. This display of a pachycephalasaurus -- an alien-looking, dome headed dinosaur -- caught my eye. If you can't see the attached photos, the signage says: "we cannot be sure how pachycephalasaurus used their skull caps, becuase theories about the behaviors of extinct animals cannot be tested." So are theories about extinct animal behaviors "science"?

  --
  David W. Opderbeck
  Associate Professor of Law
  Seton Hall University Law School
  Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology

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Received on Sat Jun 7 08:07:13 2008