Discuss the claim that some areas of knowledge are discovered and others are invented - Essay Example

Discoveries have led to the development of the various disciplines in the educational systems today. Facts have been unleashed for every one to observe and use the knowledge to be efficient in the day to day operations (Maddox 1998 p 71). Both the knowledge acquired through invention and that acquired through discovery are significant for the advancement and sustainability of humans. This essay is a critique of the two kinds of knowledge. It presents the distinction as well as the relationships that exist between discovered and invented knowledge.

The discovered knowledge helps people to predict the outcome of their actions. For example, the law of gravity that was discovered by Sir Isaac Newton helps people to understand why things always fall after being tossed away from the earth (Berlinski 2002 p 76). Such kind of discovered knowledge is amongst the fundamentals of a course such as physics. Other people who have discovered important knowledge include scientists Boyle and Charles who contributed to the discovery of gas laws and Michael Faraday who made several discoveries in physics amongst others (Donald 2005 p 57).

In essence, these people did not change anything on what they discovered. What they did is just realizing how things work. On the other hand, inventions are usually accomplished after studying and understanding how things work. It leads to the development of theories that help people to work better. Many inventions can be combined to develop a complex unit, which is the basis for industrialization, medicine and other professions. For example, inventions of the alternating current theories by Steinmetz led to the development of electrical power generation; the law of electromagnetic induction invented by Michael Faraday was useful in developing the coils used in transformers and coils; invention of the integrated circuit by Jack Kilby was useful in development of electronic equipments that use electricity, and many other theories that