Appendix 2
Reading to Learn
4B ‧ Ch.10 Fair Testing ‧ p.11
香港資訊 Science for You The Pioneer of Medical Testing — James Lind Scientists started to find reliable evidence by more objective testing methods in the early days. A long time ago, many sailors in long-haul ships had scurvy, whose symptoms include bleeding gum and tiredness. In 1747, James Lind, a British doctor who went on board with the sailors, wanted to find out what could help treat scurvy. He chose 12 sailors with symptoms for the test and divided them into six groups. He gave different food or medicine to each group to see which food or medicine worked. Except the food used in the test, all other food that the sailors ate was the same. The six groups of food were: 1) apple cider (946 ml a day)
2) sulphate (3 times a day, 25 drops each time) 3) vinegar (3 times a day, 2 teaspoons each time) 4) seawater (236 ml a day) 5) two oranges and one lemon (a day) 6) laxative with special plant formulation (3 times a day) Among the six groups of patients, only the group which took oranges and lemons recovered completely.
Let’s Think 1. Do you think Lind’s test was fair? Was the result believable? 2. How did he control other factors to make the test result more accurate? 3. Give some suggestions to make Lind’s test more believable. Today, we know that a lack of vitamin C would cause scurvy but Lind did not know there was vitamin C in oranges and lemons at that time. He also did not know that a lack of vitamin C would cause scurvy. People discovered vitamin C and its functions nearly 200 years later. It shows that scientists do not build modern scientific knowledge overnight. It is the result of their hard work over the years.
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