Question Details

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.


Different sciences exhibit different science cultures and practices. For example, in astronomy, observation - until what is today called the new astronomy - had always been limited to what could be seen within the limits of optical light. Indeed, until early modernity the limits to optical light were also limits of what humans could themselves see within their limited and relative perceptual spectrum of human vision. With early modernity and the invention of lensed optical instruments - telescopes - astronomers could begin to observe phenomena never seen before. Magnification and esolution began to allow what was previously imperceptible to be perceived - but within the familiar limits of optical vision. Galileo, having learned of the Dutch invention of a telescope by Hans Lippershey, went on to build some hundred of his own, improving from the Dutch 3x to nearly 30x telescopes - which turn out to be the limit of magnificational power without chromatic distortion. And it was with his own telescopes that he made the observations launching early modern astronomy (phases of Venus, satellites of Jupiter, etc.). Isaac Newton’s later improvement with reflecting telescopes expanded upon the magnificational-resolution capacity of optical observation; and, from Newton to the twentieth century, improvement continued on to the later very large array of light telescopes today - following the usual technological trajectory of “more-is-better” but still remaining within the limits of the light spectrum.


Today’s astronomy has now had the benefit of some four centuries of optical telescopy. The “new astronomy,” however, opens the full known electromagnetic spectrum to observation, beginning with the accidental discovery of radio astronomy early in the twentieth century, and leading today to the diverse variety of EMS telescopes which can explore the range from gamma to radio waves. Thus, astronomy, now outfitted with new instruments, “smart” adaptive optics, very large arrays, etc., illustrates one style of instrumentally embodied science - a technoscience. Of course astronomy, with the very recent exceptions of probes to solar system bodies (Moon, Mars, Venus, asteroids), remains largely a “receptive” science, dependent upon instrumentation which can detect and receive emissions. Contemporary biology displays a quite different instrument array and, according to Evelyn Fox- Keller, also a different scientific culture.


She cites her own experience, coming from mathematical physics into microbiology, and takes account of the distinctive instrumental culture in her Making Sense of Life (2002). Here, particularly with the development of biotechnology, instrumentation is far more interventional than in the astronomy case. Microscopic instrumentation can be and often is interventional in style: “gene-splicing” and other techniques of biotechnology, while still in their infancy, are clearly part of the interventional trajectory of biological instrumentation. Yet, in both disciplines, the sciences involved are today highly instrumentalized and could not progress successfully without constant improvements upon the respective instrumental trajectories. So, minimalistically, one may conclude that the sciences are technologically, instrumentally embodied. But the styles of embodiment differ, and perhaps the last of the scientific disciplines to move into such technical embodiment is mathematics, which only contemporarily has come to rely more and more upon the computational machinery now in common use.


Which one of the following observations is a valid conclusion to draw from the statement that “the sciences involved are today highly instrumentalised and could not progress successfully without constant improvements upon the respective instrumental trajectories”?

Options

A

The use of instruments in scientific trajectories must be respected in order to see successful progress in them.

B

The growth of scientific technologies has led to the embodiment of progress in the trajectories of improvement.

C

In both astronomy and microbiology, progress has been the consequence of improvements in the instruments they use.

D

Highly instrumentalised work in the sciences has resulted in the progressive improvement of scientific constants.

Show Answer

Correct Answer :

Option C

In both astronomy and microbiology, progress has been the consequence of improvements in the instruments they use.

Solution :

The correct answer is: In both astronomy and microbiology, progress has been the consequence of improvements in the instruments they use.

To understand why this is the best conclusion, we need to look at the context provided by the passage. The passage compares the scientific cultures and practices of two main fields: astronomy and biology (specifically microbiology).

The author describes how astronomy relies heavily on telescopes and other observational tools to detect emissions, calling it a "receptive" science. On the other hand, microbiology uses instruments that allow for direct intervention, such as gene-splicing. Despite these differences in how the instruments are used, the author makes a unifying statement about both fields: "Yet, in both disciplines, the sciences involved are today highly instrumentalized and could not progress successfully without constant improvements upon the respective instrumental trajectories."

Let's break down the meaning of this statement:

1. "The sciences involved" directly refers to the two disciplines discussed in the preceding paragraphs: astronomy and microbiology.

2. "Highly instrumentalized" means that both of these fields rely heavily on technical instruments to conduct their work.

3. "Could not progress successfully without constant improvements upon the respective instrumental trajectories" means that scientific advancement in these fields is dependent on making continuous upgrades and advancements to their tools.

Therefore, the most logical and valid conclusion to draw from this statement is that progress in both astronomy and microbiology has been driven by, and is a consequence of, the improvements made to the instruments they rely on. This perfectly matches the correct option.

The other options misinterpret the text. There is no mention of "respecting" the use of instruments or improving "scientific constants," and the phrasing about the "embodiment of progress" distorts the passage's point about sciences being "technologically, instrumentally embodied."

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