Stanley Lloyd Miller e a origem da vida: uma possibilidade para o estudo da natureza da ciência

• Ano de defesa: 2014
• Autor(a) principal: Oliveira, Caroline Avelino de [UNESP]
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
• Palavras-chave em Português: Ciencia - Historia; Vida - Origem; Ciencia - Estudo e ensino; Science - History
• Link de acesso: http://hdl.handle.net/11449/110903

This paper assesses some ideas on the Nature of Science, showing that the use of the History of Science Education is essential. The case studied is the research of the American chemist Stanley Lloyd Miller into the production of amino acids on the primitive Earth, on the assumption of a reducing atmosphere. The theoretical framework is based on the main authors who influenced Miller: Alesandr Ivanovich Oparin and Urey Harold Clayton. The main objective was to analyze the life trajectory of Stanley Lloyd Miller and his experiments on the origin of life, and the sociocultural, political and economic context that influenced him. The methodology is based on historical and documentary analysis of primary and secondary texts, using the qualitative approach. It was also found that, in general, the scientists behavior is shown in textbooks in a decontextualized and fragmented way. It was found that in Oparin and Miller's theory it is possible to discuss a change in the conception of the origin of life: before there was the idea in whichthe protein originated life; nowadays it is believed that the DNA molecule could have a relationship with the origin of life. The idea of coacervates is no longer accepted either. This shows, as already pointed out by Lederman and collaborators, that the scientific knowledge is provisional. It undergoes changes, correlations and, therefore, is never definitive. Another view on the Nature of Science which is widespread in academia is that the scientific method is very rigid. The scientific method would consist of steps that should be followed precisely, presenting results with extreme accuracy, predictability and infallibility. Miller himpself destroys the myth of predicability when, throughout his research, he conducted several experiments to reach a satisfactory result. Therefore it can be stated that it is advisable to separate the Nature of Science, the History of Science and the Science Teaching