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Single Idea 17403
[filed under theme 14. Science / D. Explanation / 3. Best Explanation / a. Best explanation
]
Full Idea
Rather than proving the value of prediction, the development and acceptance of the periodic table may give us a powerful illustration of the importance of accommodation, that is, the ability of a new scientific theory to explain already known facts.
Gist of Idea
The periodic table suggests accommodation to facts rates above prediction
Source
Eric R. Scerri (The Periodic Table [2007], 05 'Intro')
Book Ref
Scerri,Eric R.: 'The Periodic Table' [OUP 2007], p.124
A Reaction
The original table made famous predictions, but also just as many wrong ones (Scerri:143), and Scerri thinks this aspect has been overrated.
Related Ideas
Idea 16856
It is more impressive that relativity predicted Mercury's orbit than if it had accommodated it [Lipton]
Idea 16857
Predictions are best for finding explanations, because mere accommodations can be fudged [Lipton]
The
28 ideas
from 'The Periodic Table'
17392
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How can poisonous elements survive in the nutritious compound they compose?
[Scerri]
|
17393
|
Scientists eventually seek underlying explanations for every pattern
[Scerri]
|
17394
|
Natural kinds are what are differentiated by nature, and not just by us
[Scerri]
|
17391
|
Periodicity and bonding are the two big ideas in chemistry
[Scerri]
|
17395
|
Elements were ordered by equivalent weight; later by atomic weight; finally by atomic number
[Scerri]
|
17396
|
The colour of gold is best explained by relativistic effects due to fast-moving inner-shell electrons
[Scerri]
|
17397
|
The periodic system is the big counterexample to Kuhn's theory of revolutionary science
[Scerri]
|
17398
|
19th C views said elements survived abstractly in compounds, but also as 'material ingredients'
[Scerri]
|
17403
|
The periodic table suggests accommodation to facts rates above prediction
[Scerri]
|
17404
|
Chemistry does not work from general principles, but by careful induction from large amounts of data
[Scerri]
|
17405
|
If a theory can be fudged, so can observations
[Scerri]
|
17410
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Moseley showed the elements progress in units, and thereby clearly identified the gaps
[Scerri]
|
17406
|
Moseley, using X-rays, showed that atomic number ordered better than atomic weight
[Scerri]
|
17408
|
Some suggested basing the new periodic table on isotopes, not elements
[Scerri]
|
17407
|
The electron is the main source of chemical properties
[Scerri]
|
17411
|
If all elements are multiples of one (of hydrogen), that suggests once again that matter is unified
[Scerri]
|
17409
|
Does radioactivity show that only physics can explain chemistry?
[Scerri]
|
17412
|
Elements are placed in the table by the number of positive charges - the atomic number
[Scerri]
|
17414
|
Pauli explained the electron shells, but not the lengths of the periods in the table
[Scerri]
|
17413
|
Elements in the table are grouped by having the same number of outer-shell electrons
[Scerri]
|
17416
|
Orthodoxy says the periodic table is explained by quantum mechanics
[Scerri]
|
17415
|
A big chemistry idea is that covalent bonds are shared electrons, not transfer of electrons
[Scerri]
|
17417
|
To explain the table, quantum mechanics still needs to explain order of shell filling
[Scerri]
|
17419
|
Since 99.96% of the universe is hydrogen and helium, the periodic table hardly matters
[Scerri]
|
17422
|
The best classification needs the deepest and most general principles of the atoms
[Scerri]
|
17421
|
If elements are natural kinds, might the groups of the periodic table also be natural kinds?
[Scerri]
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17418
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It is now thought that all the elements have literally evolved from hydrogen
[Scerri]
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17420
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The stability of nuclei can be estimated through their binding energy
[Scerri]
|