Scientific method refers to the body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. A phenomenon (from Greek φαινόμενoν, pl φαινόμενα - phenomena) is any observable occurrence Knowledge is defined ( Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i expertise and skills acquired by a person through experience or education the theoretical or practical understanding It is based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. In Physics, particularly in Quantum physics, a system observable is a property of the system state that can be determined by some sequence of physical A central concept in Science and the Scientific method is that all Evidence must be empirical, or empirically based that is dependent on evidence Evidence in its broadest sense includes anything that is used to determine or demonstrate the Truth of an assertion Reasoning is the cognitive process of looking for Reasons for beliefs conclusions actions or feelings [1] A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses. Observation is either an activity of a living being (such as a Human) which senses and assimilates the Knowledge of a Phenomenon, or the recording of data In scientific inquiry an experiment ( Latin: Ex- periri, "to try out" is a method of investigating particular types of research questions or A hypothesis (from Greek) consists either of a suggested explanation for a phenomenon (an event that is observable or of a reasoned proposal suggesting a possible [2]
Although procedures vary from one field of inquiry to another, identifiable features distinguish scientific inquiry from other methodologies of knowledge. Fields of science are widely-recognized categories of specialized expertise within Science, and typically embody their own Terminology and Nomenclature. Scientific researchers propose hypotheses as explanations of phenomena, and design experimental studies to test these hypotheses. A hypothesis (from Greek) consists either of a suggested explanation for a phenomenon (an event that is observable or of a reasoned proposal suggesting a possible In scientific inquiry an experiment ( Latin: Ex- periri, "to try out" is a method of investigating particular types of research questions or Research is defined as Human activity based on Intellectual application in the investigation of Matter. These steps must be repeatable in order to predict dependably any future results. Theories that encompass wider domains of inquiry may bind many hypotheses together in a coherent structure. The word theory has many distinct meanings in different fields of Knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. This in turn may help form new hypotheses or place groups of hypotheses into context.
Among other facets shared by the various fields of inquiry is the conviction that the process must be objective to reduce a biased interpretation of the results. "n objective account is one which attempts to capture the nature of the object studied in a way that does not depend on any features of the particular subject who studies it Bias is a term used to describe a Tendency or Preference towards a particular perspective, Ideology or result especially when the tendency interferes Another basic expectation is to document, archive and share all data and methodology so they are available for careful scrutiny by other scientists, thereby allowing other researchers the opportunity to verify results by attempting to reproduce them. Scientific data archiving refers to the long-term storage of scientific data and methods Data sharing is required in most academic research but is not ubiquitous Methodology (also called manner) is defined as "the analysis of the principles of methods rules and postulates employed by a discipline" Reproducibility is one of the main principles of the Scientific method, and refers to the ability of a test or Experiment to be accurately reproduced or replicated This practice, called full disclosure, also allows statistical measures of the reliability of these data to be established. In Statistics, reliability is the consistency of a set of measurements or measuring instrument often used to describe a test.
Introduction to scientific method
Since Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen, 965–1039), a pioneer of scientific method, the emphasis has been on seeking truth:
"Truth is sought for its own sake. TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Arabic: ابو علی، حسن بن حسن بن هيثم Latinized The history of Scientific method is inseparable from the History of science itself The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality And those who are engaged upon the quest for anything for its own sake are not interested in other things. Finding the truth is difficult, and the road to it is rough. "[3]
"How does light travel through transparent bodies? Light travels through transparent bodies in straight lines only. . . . We have explained this exhaustively in our Book of Optics. The Book of Optics ( Arabic: Kitab al-Manazir, Latin: De Aspectibus or Opticae Thesaurus Alhazeni But let us now mention something to prove this convincingly: the fact that light travels in straight lines is clearly observed in the lights which enter into dark rooms through holes. . . . [T]he entering light will be clearly observable in the dust which fills the air. "[4]
The conjecture that "Light travels through transparent bodies in straight lines only", was corroborated by Alhacen only after years of effort. His demonstration of the conjecture was to place a straight stick or a taut thread next to the light beam,[5] to prove that light travels in a straight line.
Scientific methodology has been practiced in some form for at least one thousand years. There are difficulties in a formulaic statement of method, however. As William Whewell (1794–1866) noted in his History of Inductive Science (1837) and in Philosophy of Inductive Science (1840), "invention, sagacity, genius" are required at every step in scientific method. William Whewell ( May 24, 1794 &ndash March 6, 1866) was an English Polymath, Scientist, Anglican Priest It is not enough to base scientific method on experience alone[6]; multiple steps are needed in scientific method, ranging from our experience to our imagination, back and forth. In Philosophy, empiricism is a theory of Knowledge which asserts that knowledge arises from Experience.
In the twentieth century, a hypothetico-deductive model for scientific method was formulated (for a more formal discussion, see below):
- 1. See also Falsifiability The hypothetico-deductive model, or method is a proposed description of Scientific method. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena Use your experience: Consider the problem and try to make sense of it. Look for previous explanations. If this is a new problem to you, then move to step 2.
- 2. Form a conjecture: When nothing else is yet known, try to state an explanation, to someone else, or to your notebook.
- 3. Deduce a prediction from that explanation: If you assume 2 is true, what consequences follow?
- 4. Test : Look for the opposite of each consequence in order to disprove 2. It is a logical error to seek 3 directly as proof of 2. This error is called affirming the consequent. Affirming the consequent, sometimes also called Converse error, is a Formal fallacy, committed by reasoning in the form: If P
This model underlies the scientific revolution. The period which many historians of science call the Scientific Revolution can be roughly dated as having begun in 1543 the year in which Nicolaus Copernicus published One thousand years ago, Alhacen demonstrated the importance of steps 1 and 4. Galileo (1638) also showed the importance of step 4 (also called Experiment) in Two New Sciences. In scientific inquiry an experiment ( Latin: Ex- periri, "to try out" is a method of investigating particular types of research questions or The Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences ( Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche intorno a due nuove scienze, 1638 was Galileo's One possible sequence in this model would be 1, 2, 3, 4. If the outcome of 4 holds, and 3 is not yet disproven, you may continue with 3, 4, 1, and so forth; but if the outcome of 4 shows 3 to be false, you will have go back to 2 and try to invent a new 2, deduce a new 3, look for 4, and so forth.
Note that this method can never absolutely verify (prove the truth of) 2. It can only falsify 2. [7] (This is what Einstein meant when he said "No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong.")
In the twentieth century, Ludwik Fleck (1896–1961) and others found that we need to consider our experiences more carefully, because our experience may be biased, and that we need to be more exact when describing our experiences. Falsifiability (or "refutability" is the logical possibility that an assertion can be shown false by an observation or a physical experiment Ludwik Fleck ( July 11, 1896 &ndash July 5, 1961) (also written as Ludwig) was a Polish medical These considerations are discussed below.
Truth and belief
Belief can alter observations; those with a particular belief will often see things as reinforcing their belief, even if they do not. The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality [8] Needham's Science and Civilization in China uses the 'flying horse' image as an example of observation: in it, a horse's legs are depicted as splayed, when the stop-action picture by Eadweard Muybridge shows otherwise. Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham, CH, FRS, FBA ( December 9, 1900 – March 24 1995) was a British Eadweard J Muybridge ( April 9, 1830 &ndash May 8, 1904) was an English photographer, known primarily for his early use Note that at the moment that no hoof is touching the ground, the horse's legs are gathered together and are not splayed.
Earlier paintings depict the incorrect flying horse observation. Eadweard J Muybridge ( April 9, 1830 &ndash May 8, 1904) was an English photographer, known primarily for his early use The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. This is an article on horse gaits for other meanings see gait (disambiguation. This demonstrates Ludwik Fleck's caution that people observe what they expect to observe, until shown otherwise; our beliefs will affect our observations (and therefore our subsequent actions). Ludwik Fleck ( July 11, 1896 &ndash July 5, 1961) (also written as Ludwig) was a Polish medical The purpose of the scientific method is to test a hypothesis, a belief about how things are, via repeatable experimental observations which can contradict the hypothesis so as to fight this observer bias.
Elements of scientific method
There are many ways of outlining the basic method shared by all fields of scientific inquiry. The following examples are typical classifications of the most important components of the method on which there is wide agreement in the scientific community and among philosophers of science. The scientific community consists of the total body of Scientists its relationships and interactions Philosophy of science is the study of assumptions foundations and implications of Science. There are, however, disagreements about some aspects.
The following set of methodological elements and organization of procedures tends to be more characteristic of natural sciences than social sciences. In the social sciences mathematical and statistical methods of verification and hypotheses testing may be less stringent. Nonetheless the cycle of hypothesis, verification and formulation of new hypotheses will resemble the cycle described below.
Each element of a scientific method is subject to peer review for possible mistakes. Peer review (also known as refereeing) is the process of subjecting an author's scholarly work research or Ideas to the scrutiny of others who are These activities do not describe all that scientists do (see below) but apply mostly to experimental sciences (e. g. , physics, chemistry). The elements above are often taught in the educational system. Education encompasses both the Teaching and Learning of Knowledge, proper conduct, and technical competency [22]
Scientific method is not a recipe: it requires intelligence, imagination, and creativity. [23] It is also an ongoing cycle, constantly developing more useful, accurate and comprehensive models and methods. For example, when Einstein developed the Special and General Theories of Relativity, he did not in any way refute or discount Newton's Principia. On the contrary, if the astronomically large, the vanishingly small, and the extremely fast are reduced out from Einstein's theories — all phenomena that Newton could not have observed — Newton's equations remain. Einstein's theories are expansions and refinements of Newton's theories, and observations that increase our confidence in them also increase our confidence in Newton's approximations to them.
A linearized, pragmatic scheme of the four points above is sometimes offered as a guideline for proceeding:[24]
The iterative cycle inherent in this step-by-step methodology goes from point 3 to 6 back to 3 again.
While this schema outlines a typical hypothesis/testing method,[25] it should also be noted that a number of philosophers, historians and sociologists of science (perhaps most notably Paul Feyerabend) claim that such descriptions of scientific method have little relation to the ways science is actually practiced. Paul Karl Feyerabend ( January 13, 1924 – February 11, 1994) was an Austrian born Philosopher of science best known for
The "operational" model combines the concepts of factory-style processing, operational definition, and utility:
The Keystones of Science project, sponsored by the journal Science, has selected a number of scientific articles from that journal and annotated them, illustrating how different parts of each article embody scientific method. An operational definition is a demonstration of a process &mdash such as a Variable, term, or object &mdash relative in terms of the specific Process In Economics, utility is a measure of the relative satisfaction from or desirability of Consumption of various Goods and services. Science is the Academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is considered one of the world's most prestigious Scientific Here is an annotated example of this scientific method example titled Microbial Genes in the Human Genome: Lateral Transfer or Gene Loss?. The human genome is the Genome of Homo sapiens, which is stored on 23 chromosome pairs
DNA example
.png){kind=icon}
Each element of scientific method is illustrated below by an example from the discovery of the structure of DNA:
- DNA-characterizations: in this case, although the significance of the gene had been established, the mechanism was unclear to anyone, as of 1950. Deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) is a Nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known
- DNA-hypotheses: Crick and Watson hypothesized that the gene had a physical basis - it was helical.
- DNA-predictions: from earlier work on tobacco mosaic virus, Watson was aware of the significance of Crick's formulation of the transform of a helix. Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV is an RNA virus that infects Plants especially Tobacco and other members of the family Solanaceae. [26] Thus he was primed for the significance of the X-shape in photo 51.
- DNA-experiments: Watson sees photo 51. Photo 51 is the nickname given to an X-ray diffraction image of DNA taken by Rosalind Franklin in 1952 that was critical evidence in identifying
- The examples are continued in "Evaluations and iterations" with DNA-iterations.
Characterizations
Scientific method depends upon increasingly more sophisticated characterizations of subjects of the investigation. (The subjects can also be called unsolved problems or the unknowns). For example, Benjamin Franklin correctly characterized St. Elmo's fire as electrical in nature, but it has taken a long series of experiments and theory to establish this. Benjamin Franklin ( April 17 1790 was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. St Elmo's fire is an electrical Weather Phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a Coronal discharge originating from Nature, in the broadest sense is equivalent to the natural world, physical universe, material world or material universe. While seeking the pertinent properties of the subjects, this careful thought may also entail some definitions and observations; the observations often demand careful measurements and/or counting. Observation is either an activity of a living being (such as a Human) which senses and assimilates the Knowledge of a Phenomenon, or the recording of data Measurement is the process of estimating the magnitude of some attribute of an object such as its length or weight relative to some standard ( unit of measurement) such as
- "I am not accustomed to saying anything with certainty after only one or two observations. "[27] --Andreas Vesalius (1546)
The systematic, careful collection of measurements or counts of relevant quantities is often the critical difference between pseudo-sciences, such as alchemy, and a science, such as chemistry or biology. Andreas Vesalius ( Brussels, December 31, 1514 - Zakynthos, October 15, 1564) was an anatomist, Physician Scientific measurements taken are usually tabulated, graphed, or mapped, and statistical manipulations, such as correlation and regression, performed on them. In Probability theory and Statistics, correlation, (often measured as a correlation coefficient) indicates the strength and direction of a linear The measurements might be made in a controlled setting, such as a laboratory, or made on more or less inaccessible or unmanipulatable objects such as stars or human populations. The measurements often require specialized scientific instruments such as thermometers, spectroscopes, or voltmeters, and the progress of a scientific field is usually intimately tied to their invention and development.
Uncertainty
Measurements in scientific work are also usually accompanied by estimates of their uncertainty. Uncertainty is a term used in subtly different ways in a number of fields including Philosophy, Statistics, Economics, Finance, Insurance The uncertainty is often estimated by making repeated measurements of the desired quantity. Uncertainties may also be calculated by consideration of the uncertainties of the individual underlying quantities that are used. Counts of things, such as the number of people in a nation at a particular time, may also have an uncertainty due to limitations of the method used. Counts may only represent a sample of desired quantities, with an uncertainty that depends upon the sampling method used and the number of samples taken.
Definition
Measurements demand the use of operational definitions of relevant quantities. An operational definition is a demonstration of a process &mdash such as a Variable, term, or object &mdash relative in terms of the specific Process That is, a scientific quantity is described or defined by how it is measured, as opposed to some more vague, inexact or "idealized" definition. For example, electrical current, measured in amperes, may be operationally defined in terms of the mass of silver deposited in a certain time on an electrode in an electrochemical device that is described in some detail. Electric current is the flow (movement of Electric charge. The SI unit of electric current is the Ampere. The operational definition of a thing often relies on comparisons with standards: the operational definition of "mass" ultimately relies on the use of an artifact, such as a certain kilogram of platinum-iridium kept in a laboratory in France.
The scientific definition of a term sometimes differs substantially from its natural language usage. In the Philosophy of language, a natural language (or ordinary language) is a Language that is spoken or written in phonemic-alphabetic or phonemically-related For example, mass and weight overlap in meaning in common discourse, but have distinct meanings in mechanics. Mass is a fundamental concept in Physics, roughly corresponding to the Intuitive idea of how much Matter there is in an object In the Physical sciences weight is a Measurement of the gravitational Force acting on an object Mechanics ( Greek) is the branch of Physics concerned with the behaviour of physical bodies when subjected to Forces or displacements Scientific quantities are often characterized by their units of measure which can later be described in terms of conventional physical units when communicating the work.
New theories sometimes arise upon realizing that certain terms had not previously been sufficiently clearly defined. For example, Albert Einstein's first paper on relativity begins by defining simultaneity and the means for determining length. Albert Einstein ( German: ˈalbɐt ˈaɪ̯nʃtaɪ̯n; English: ˈælbɝt ˈaɪnstaɪn (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955 was a German -born theoretical Special relativity (SR (also known as the special theory of relativity or STR) is the Physical theory of Measurement in Inertial The relativity of simultaneity is the concept that simultaneity is not absolute but dependent on the observer Length is the long Dimension of any object The length of a thing is the distance between its ends its linear extent as measured from end to end These ideas were skipped over by Isaac Newton with, "I do not define time, space, place and motion, as being well known to all. Sir Isaac Newton, FRS (ˈnjuːtən 4 January 1643 31 March 1727) Biography Early years See also Isaac Newton's early life and achievements In Physics, the treatment of Time is a central issue It has been treated as a question of Geometry. In Physics, motion means a constant change in the location of a body " Einstein's paper then demonstrates that they (viz. , absolute time and length independent of motion) were approximations. Francis Crick cautions us that when characterizing a subject, however, it can be premature to define something when it remains ill-understood. Francis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS (8 June 1916 – 28 July 2004 Ph [28] In Crick's study of consciousness, he actually found it easier to study awareness in the visual system, rather than to study free will, for example. Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the In Biological psychology, awareness comprises a human's or an animal's perception and Cognitive reaction to a condition or event The visual system is the part of the Nervous system which allows organisms to see. The question of free will His cautionary example was the gene; the gene was much more poorly understood before Watson and Crick's pioneering discovery of the structure of DNA; it would have been counterproductive to spend much time on the definition of the gene, before them.
Example of Characterizations
DNA-characterizations
The history of the discovery of the structure of DNA is a classic example of the elements of scientific method: in 1950 it was known that genetic inheritance had a mathematical description, starting with the studies of Gregor Mendel. Deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) is a Nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known Deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) is a Nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known Gregor Johann Mendel ( July 20, 1822 &ndash January 6, 1884) was But the mechanism of the gene was unclear. Researchers in Bragg's laboratory at Cambridge University made X-ray diffraction pictures of various molecules, starting with crystals of salt, and proceeding to more complicated substances. Sir William Lawrence Bragg CH, FRS, ( 31 March 1890 – 1 July 1971) was an Australian Physicist The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the X-radiation (composed of X-rays) is a form of Electromagnetic radiation. Diffraction is normally taken to refer to various phenomena which occur when a wave encounters an obstacle In Chemistry, a molecule is defined as a sufficiently stable electrically neutral group of at least two Atoms in a definite arrangement held together by In Materials science, a crystal is a Solid in which the constituent Atoms Molecules or Ions are packed in a regularly ordered repeating Salt is a Dietary mineral composed primarily of Sodium chloride that is essential for Animal life but toxic to most land plants Using clues which were painstakingly assembled over the course of decades, beginning with its chemical composition, it was determined that it should be possible to characterize the physical structure of DNA, and the X-ray images would be the vehicle. ..2. DNA-hypotheses
Precession of Mercury
The characterization element can require extended and extensive study, even centuries. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena Precession refers to a change in the direction of the axis of a rotating object In Celestial mechanics, an apsis, plural apsides (ˈæpsɨdɪːz is the point of greatest or least distance of the Elliptical orbit of an object from It took thousands of years of measurements, from the Chaldean, Indian, Persian, Greek, Arabic and European astronomers, to record the motion of planet Earth. Chaldea (from Greek grc Χαλδαία Chaldaia; Akkadian akk māt Kaldu Hebrew כשדים Kaśdim, "the Chaldees" of the India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding The European peoples are the various Nations and Ethnic groups of Europe. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 Newton was able to condense these measurements into consequences of his laws of motion. But the perihelion of the planet Mercury's orbit exhibits a precession that is not fully explained by Newton's laws of motion. In Celestial mechanics, an apsis, plural apsides (ˈæpsɨdɪːz is the point of greatest or least distance of the Elliptical orbit of an object from In Physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of one object around a point or another body for example the gravitational orbit of a planet around a star The observed difference for Mercury's precession between Newtonian theory and relativistic theory (approximately 43 arc-seconds per century), was one of the things that occurred to Einstein as a possible early test of his theory of General Relativity. Precession refers to a change in the direction of the axis of a rotating object General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of Gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916
Hypothesis development
A hypothesis is a suggested explanation of a phenomenon, or alternately a reasoned proposal suggesting a possible correlation between or among a set of phenomena. A hypothesis (from Greek) consists either of a suggested explanation for a phenomenon (an event that is observable or of a reasoned proposal suggesting a possible
Normally hypotheses have the form of a mathematical model. Note The term model has a different meaning in Model theory, a branch of Mathematical logic. Sometimes, but not always, they can also be formulated as existential statements, stating that some particular instance of the phenomenon being studied has some characteristic and causal explanations, which have the general form of universal statements, stating that every instance of the phenomenon has a particular characteristic. In Predicate logic, an existential quantification is the predication of a property or relation to at least one member of the domain In Predicate logic, universal quantification is an attempt to formalize the notion that something (a Logical predicate) is true for everything, or every
Scientists are free to use whatever resources they have — their own creativity, ideas from other fields, induction, Bayesian inference, and so on — to imagine possible explanations for a phenomenon under study. Induction or inductive reasoning, sometimes called inductive logic, is the process of Reasoning in which the premises of an argument are believed Bayesian inference is Statistical inference in which evidence or observations are used to update or to newly infer the Probability that a hypothesis may be true Charles Sanders Peirce, borrowing a page from Aristotle (Prior Analytics, 2.25) described the incipient stages of inquiry, instigated by the "irritation of doubt" to venture a plausible guess, as abductive reasoning. Charles Sanders Peirce (pronounced purse) (September 10 1839 &ndash April 19 1914 was an American Logician mathematician, philosopher Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Prior Analytics is Aristotle 's work on Deductive reasoning, part of his Organon, the instrument or manual of Logical Inquiry or enquiry is any process that has the aim of augmenting Knowledge, resolving Doubt, or solving a Problem. Inquiry or enquiry is any process that has the aim of augmenting Knowledge, resolving Doubt, or solving a Problem. Inquiry or enquiry is any process that has the aim of augmenting Knowledge, resolving Doubt, or solving a Problem. The history of science is filled with stories of scientists claiming a "flash of inspiration", or a hunch, which then motivated them to look for evidence to support or refute their idea. Michael Polanyi made such creativity the centerpiece of his discussion of methodology. Michael Polanyi (born Polányi Mihály) ( March 11, 1891, Budapest – February 22, 1976) was a Hungarian –
William Glen observes that
- the success of a hypothesis, or its service to science, lies not simply in its perceived "truth", or power to displace, subsume or reduce a predecessor idea, but perhaps more in its ability to stimulate the research that will illuminate … bald suppositions and areas of vagueness. William Glen is a geologist and historian of science He is the former Editor-at-Large at Stanford University Press, and a Visiting Scientist/Historian at the U [29]
In general scientists tend to look for theories that are "elegant" or "beautiful". Elegance is the attribute of being unusually effective and simple In contrast to the usual English use of these terms, they here refer to a theory in accordance with the known facts, which is nevertheless relatively simple and easy to handle. Occam's Razor serves as a rule of thumb for making these determinations. Occam's razor (sometimes spelled Ockham's razor) is a principle attributed to the 14th-century English Logician and Franciscan Friar,
DNA-hypotheses
Linus Pauling proposed that DNA was a triple helix. Linus Carl Pauling (February 28 1901 – August 19 1994 was an American Scientist, Peace activist, Author and educator. Francis Crick and James Watson learned of Pauling's hypothesis, understood from existing data that Pauling was wrong and realized that Pauling would soon realize his mistake. Francis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS (8 June 1916 – 28 July 2004 Ph So the race was on to figure out the correct structure. Except that Pauling did not realize at the time that he was in a race! ..3. DNA-predictions
Predictions from the hypothesis
Any useful hypothesis will enable predictions, by reasoning including deductive reasoning. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena A prediction is a statement or claim that a particular Event will occur in the Future in more certain terms than a forecast. Reasoning is the cognitive process of looking for Reasons for beliefs conclusions actions or feelings Deductive reasoning is Reasoning which uses deductive Arguments to move from given statements ( Premises to Conclusions which must be true if the It might predict the outcome of an experiment in a laboratory setting or the observation of a phenomenon in nature. The prediction can also be statistical and only talk about probabilities.
It is essential that the outcome be currently unknown. Only in this case does the eventuation increase the probability that the hypothesis be true. If the outcome is already known, it's called a consequence and should have already been considered while formulating the hypothesis. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena
If the predictions are not accessible by observation or experience, the hypothesis is not yet useful for the method, and must wait for others who might come afterward, and perhaps rekindle its line of reasoning. For example, a new technology or theory might make the necessary experiments feasible.
DNA-predictions
The hypothesis (by James Watson and Francis Crick among others) that DNA had a helical structure implied the prediction that it would produce an x shaped X-ray diffraction pattern. Francis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS (8 June 1916 – 28 July 2004 Ph This followed from the work of Cochran, Crick and Vand (and independently by Stokes) who had provided a mathematical basis for the empirical observation that helical structures produce x shapes.
Also in their first paper, Watson and Crick predicted that the double helix structure that they discovered would prove important in biology, writing "It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material". In Geometry a double helix (plural helices) typically consists of two congruent helices with the same axis differing by a translation ..4. DNA-experiments
General relativity
Einstein's theory of General Relativity makes several specific predictions about the observable structure of space-time, such as a prediction that light bends in a gravitational field and that the amount of bending depends in a precise way on the strength of that gravitational field. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena A gravitational lens is formed when the light from a very distant bright source (such as a Quasar) is "bent" around a massive object (such as a cluster of General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of Gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916 SpaceTime is a patent-pending three dimensional graphical user interface that allows end users to search their content such as Google Google Images Yahoo! YouTube eBay Amazon and RSS Light, or visible light, is Electromagnetic radiation of a Wavelength that is visible to the Human eye (about 400–700 A gravitational field is a model used within Physics to explain how gravity exists in the universe Arthur Eddington's observations made during a 1919 solar eclipse supported General Relativity rather than Newtonian gravitation. Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, OM (28 December 1882 – 22 November 1944 was an English Astrophysicist of the early 20th century A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth so that the Sun is wholly or partially obscured Gravitation is a natural Phenomenon by which objects with Mass attract one another
Experiments
Once predictions are made, they can be tested by experiments. In scientific inquiry an experiment ( Latin: Ex- periri, "to try out" is a method of investigating particular types of research questions or If test results contradict predictions, then the hypotheses are called into question and explanations may be sought. Sometimes experiments are conducted incorrectly and are at fault. If the results confirm the predictions, then the hypotheses are considered likely to be correct but might still be wrong and are subject to further testing. The experimental control is a technique for dealing with observational error. Scientific controls allow Experiments to study one Variable at a time and are a vital part of the Scientific method. This technique uses the contrast between multiple samples (or observations) under differing conditions, to see what varies or what remains the same. We vary the conditions for each measurement, to help isolate what has changed. Mill's canons can then help us figure out what the important factor is. Mill's Methods are five methods of induction described by Philosopher John Stuart Mill in his 1843 book A System of Logic. Factor analysis is one technique for discovering the important factor in an effect. Factor analysis is a statistical method used to explain variability among observed Variables in terms of fewer unobserved variables called factors
Depending on the predictions, the experiments can have different shapes. It could be a classical experiment in a laboratory setting, a double-blind study or an archaeological excavation. The blind method is a part of the Scientific method, used to prevent research outcomes from being influenced by either the Placebo effect or the Observer Even taking a plane from New York to Paris is an experiment which tests the aerodynamical hypotheses used for constructing the plane. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city
Scientists assume an attitude of openness and accountability on the part of those conducting an experiment. Detailed record keeping is essential, to aid in recording and reporting on the experimental results, and providing evidence of the effectiveness and integrity of the procedure. They will also assist in reproducing the experimental results. Traces of this tradition can be seen in the work of Hipparchus (190-120 BCE), when determining a value for the precession of the Earth, while controlled experiments can be seen in the works of Muslim scientists such as Geber (721-815 CE), al-Battani (853–929) and Alhacen (965-1039). Hipparchus ( Greek; ca 190 BC &ndash ca 120 BC was a Greek Astronomer, Geographer, and Mathematician of the Hellenistic Scientific controls allow Experiments to study one Variable at a time and are a vital part of the Scientific method. For the 12th century astronomer see Jabir ibn Aflah. For the anonymous 14th century Spanish alchemist see Pseudo-Geber. TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Arabic: ابو علی، حسن بن حسن بن هيثم Latinized
DNA-experiments
Watson and Crick showed an initial (and incorrect) proposal for the structure of DNA to a team from Kings College - Rosalind Franklin, Maurice Wilkins, and Raymond Gosling. Rosalind Elsie Franklin ( 25 July, 1920 Notting Hill, London – 16 April, 1958 Chelsea London) was an Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins CBE FRS ( 15 December 1916 – 5 October 2004) was a New Zealand -born British Raymond Gosling (born 1926 is a distinguished scientist who worked with both Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin at King's College London in deducing Franklin immediately spotted the flaws which concerned the water content. Later Watson saw Franklin's detailed X-ray diffraction images which showed an X-shape and confirmed that the structure was helical[30]. Photo 51 is the nickname given to an X-ray diffraction image of DNA taken by Rosalind Franklin in 1952 that was critical evidence in identifying This rekindled Watson and Crick's model building and led to the correct structure. ..1. DNA-characterizations
Evaluation and iteration
Testing and improvement
The scientific process is iterative. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena At any stage it is possible that some consideration will lead the scientist to repeat an earlier part of the process. Failure to develop an interesting hypothesis may lead a scientist to re-define the subject they are considering. Failure of a hypothesis to produce interesting and testable predictions may lead to reconsideration of the hypothesis or of the definition of the subject. Failure of the experiment to produce interesting results may lead the scientist to reconsidering the experimental method, the hypothesis or the definition of the subject.
Other scientists may start their own research and enter the process at any stage. They might adopt the characterization and formulate their own hypothesis, or they might adopt the hypothesis and deduce their own predictions. Often the experiment is not done by the person who made the prediction and the characterization is based on experiments done by someone else. Published results of experiments can also serve as a hypothesis predicting their own reproducibility.
DNA-iterations
After considerable fruitless experimentation, being discouraged by their superior from continuing, and numerous false starts, Watson and Crick were able to infer the essential structure of DNA by concrete modeling of the physical shapes of the nucleotides which comprise it. Deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) is a Nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known Scientific modelling is the process of generating abstract, conceptual, Graphical and or mathematical models. Deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) is a Nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known Nucleotides are Organic compounds that consist of three joined structures a nitrogenous base a Sugar, and a Phosphate group They were guided by the bond lengths which had been deduced by Linus Pauling and by Rosalind Franklin's X-ray diffraction images. Linus Carl Pauling (February 28 1901 – August 19 1994 was an American Scientist, Peace activist, Author and educator. Rosalind Elsie Franklin ( 25 July, 1920 Notting Hill, London – 16 April, 1958 Chelsea London) was an ..DNA Example
Confirmation
Science is a social enterprise, and scientific work tends to be accepted by the community when it has been confirmed. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena Crucially, experimental and theoretical results must be reproduced by others within the science community. Researchers have given their lives for this vision; Georg Wilhelm Richmann was killed by ball lightning (1753) when attempting to replicate the 1752 kite-flying experiment of Benjamin Franklin. Georg Wilhelm Richmann (Russian Георг Вильгельм Рихман (July 22 1711 ( old style: July 11 1711 &ndash August 6 1753 (old style July 26 1753 Ball lightning is an atmospheric electrical phenomenon the physical nature of which is still Controversial. Benjamin Franklin ( April 17 1790 was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. [31]
To protect against bad science and fraudulent data, government research granting agencies like NSF and science journals like Nature and Science have a policy that researchers must archive their data and methods so other researchers can access it, test the data and methods and build on the research that has gone before. Scientific data archiving can be done at a number of national archives in the U. Scientific data archiving refers to the long-term storage of scientific data and methods S. or in the World Data Center. The World Data Center (WDC system was created to archive and distribute data collected from the observational programs of the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year.
Models of scientific inquiry
Classical model
The classical model of scientific inquiry derives from Aristotle[32], who distinguished the forms of approximate and exact reasoning, set out the threefold scheme of abductive, deductive, and inductive inference, and also treated the compound forms such as reasoning by analogy. Scientific inquiry has two functions first to provide a descriptive account of how scientific inquiry is carried out in practice second to provide an explanatory account Abduction, or inference to the best explanation, is a method of Reasoning in which one chooses the hypothesis that would if true best explain the relevant evidence Deductive reasoning is Reasoning which uses deductive Arguments to move from given statements ( Premises to Conclusions which must be true if the Induction or inductive reasoning, sometimes called inductive logic, is the process of Reasoning in which the premises of an argument are believed Analogy is both the cognitive process of transferring Information from a particular subject (the analogue or source to another particular subject (the target and
Pragmatic model
Charles Peirce (1839-1914) considered scientific inquiry to be a species of the genus inquiry, which he defined as any means of fixing belief, that is, any means of arriving at a settled opinion on a matter in question. Pragmatic theory of truth refers to those accounts definitions and theories of the concept Truth that distinguish the philosophies of Pragmatism Charles Sanders Peirce (pronounced purse) (September 10 1839 &ndash April 19 1914 was an American Logician mathematician, philosopher He observed that inquiry in general begins with a state of uncertainty and moves toward a state of certainty, sufficient at least to terminate the inquiry for the time being.
Peirce held that, in practical matters, slow and stumbling ratiocination is not generally to be automatically preferred over instinct and tradition, and held that scientific method is best suited to theoretical inquiry. What recommends the specifically scientific method of inquiry above all others is the fact that it is deliberately designed to arrive, eventually, at the ultimately most secure beliefs, upon which the most successful actions can eventually be based. [33] In 1877[34], he outlined four methods for the fixation of belief, the settlement of doubt, graded by their success in achieving a sound settlement of belief.
1. The method of tenacity -- persisting in that which one is inclined to think.
2. The method of authority -- conformity to a source of ready-made beliefs.
3. The method of congruity or the a priori or the dilettante or "what is agreeable to reason" -- leading to argumentation that gets finally nowhere.
4. The scientific method.
Peirce characterized scientific method in terms of the uses of inference, and paid special attention to the generation of explanations. As a question of presuppositions of reasoning, he defined truth as the correspondence of a sign (in particular, a proposition) to its object and, pragmatically, not as any actual consensus of any finite community (i. e. , such that to inquire would be to go ask the experts for the answers), but instead as that ideal final opinion which all reasonable scientific intelligences would reach, sooner or later but still inevitably, if they pushed investigation far enough[35]. In tandem he defined the real as a true sign's object (be that object a possibility or quality, or an actuality or brute fact, or a necessity or norm or law), which is what it is independently of any finite community's opinion and, pragmatically, has dependence only on the ideal final opinion. That is an opinion as far or near as the truth itself to you or me or any finite community of minds. Thus his theory of inquiry boils down to "do the science. " He characterized the scientific method as follows[36]:
1. Abduction (or retroduction). Generation of explanatory hypothesis. From abduction, Peirce distinguishes induction as inferring, on the basis of tests, the proportion of truth in the hypothesis. Every inquiry, whether into ideas, brute facts, or norms and laws, arises as a result of surprising observations in the given realm or realms, and the pondering of the phenomenon in all its aspects in the attempt to resolve the wonder. All explanatory content of theories is reached by way of abduction, the most insecure among modes of inference. Induction as a process is far too slow for that job, so economy of research demands abduction, whose modicum of success depends on one's being somehow attuned to nature, by dispositions learned and, some of them, likely inborn. Abduction has general justification inductively in that it works often enough and that nothing else works, at least not quickly enough when science is already properly rather slow, the work of indefinitely many generations. Peirce calls his pragmatism "the logic of abduction"[37]. His Pragmatic Maxim is: "Consider what effects that might conceivably have practical bearings you conceive the objects of your conception to have. The pragmatic maxim, also known as the maxim of Pragmatism or the maxim of Pragmaticism, is a Maxim of Logic formulated Then, your conception of those effects is the whole of your conception of the object"[35]. His pragmatism is a method of sorting out conceptual confusions by equating the meaning of any concept with the conceivable practical consequences of whatever it is which the concept portrays. It is a method of experimentational mental reflection arriving at conceptions in terms of conceivable confirmatory and disconfirmatory circumstances -- a method hospitable to the generation of explanatory hypotheses, and conducive to the employment and improvement of verification to test the truth of putative knowledge. Given abduction's dependence on mental processes not necessarily conscious and deliberate but, in any case, attuned to nature, and given abduction's being driven by the need to economize the inquiry process, its explanatory hypotheses should be optimally simple in the sense of "natural" (for which Peirce cites Galileo and which Peirce distinguishes from "logically simple"). Given abduction's insecurity, it should have consequences with conceivable practical bearing leading at least to mental tests, and, in science, lending themselves to scientific testing.
2. Deduction. Analysis of hypothesis and deduction of its consequences in order to test the hypothesis. Two stages:
- i. Explication. Logical analysis of the hypothesis in order to render it as distinct as possible.
- ii. Demonstration (or deductive argumentation). Deduction of hypothesis's consequence. Corollarial or, if needed, Theorematic.
3. Induction. The long-run validity of the rule of induction is deducible from the principle (presuppositional to reasoning in general[35]) that the real is only the object of the final opinion to which adequate investigation would lead[38] In other words, if there were something to which an inductive process involving ongoing tests or observations would never lead, then that thing would not be real. Three stages:
- i. Classification. Classing objects of experience under general ideas.
- ii. Probation (or direct Inductive Argumentation): Crude (the enumeration of instances) or Gradual (new estimate of proportion of truth in the hypothesis after each test). Gradual Induction is Qualitative or Quantitative; if Quantitative, then dependent on measurements, or on statistics, or on countings.
- iii. Sentential Induction. ". . . which, by Inductive reasonings, appraises the different Probations singly, then their combinations, then makes self-appraisal of these very appraisals themselves, and passes final judgment on the whole result"[36].
Computational approaches
Many subspecialties of applied logic and computer science, to name a few, artificial intelligence, machine learning, computational learning theory, inferential statistics, and knowledge representation, are concerned with setting out computational, logical, and statistical frameworks for the various types of inference involved in scientific inquiry, in particular, hypothesis formation, logical deduction, and empirical testing. Computer science (or computing science) is the study and the Science of the theoretical foundations of Information and Computation and their Machine learning is a subfield of Artificial intelligence that is concerned with the design and development of Algorithms and techniques that allow computers to "learn" In Theoretical computer science, computational learning theory is a mathematical field related to the analysis of Machine learning algorithms Inferential statistics or statistical induction comprises the use of Statistics to make Inferences concerning some unknown aspect of a Population Knowledge representation is an area in Artificial intelligence that is concerned with how to formally "think" that is how to use a symbol system to represent Abduction, or inference to the best explanation, is a method of Reasoning in which one chooses the hypothesis that would if true best explain the relevant evidence Deductive reasoning is Reasoning which uses deductive Arguments to move from given statements ( Premises to Conclusions which must be true if the Induction or inductive reasoning, sometimes called inductive logic, is the process of Reasoning in which the premises of an argument are believed Some of these applications draw on measures of complexity from algorithmic information theory to guide the making of predictions from prior distributions of experience, for example, see the complexity measure called the speed prior from which a computable strategy for optimal inductive reasoning can be derived. In Mathematics the concept of a measure generalizes notions such as "length" "area" and "volume" (but not all of its applications have to do with In general usage complexity often tends to be used to characterize something with many parts in intricate arrangement Algorithmic information theory is a subfield of Information theory and Computer science that concerns itself with the relationship between computation In Probability theory and Statistics, a probability distribution identifies either the probability of each value of an unidentified Random variable Jürgen Schmidhuber 's Speed Prior is a Complexity measure similar to Kolmogorov complexity, except that it is based on Computation speed as well
Philosophy and sociology of science
- Further information: Sociology of science
While the philosophy of science has limited direct impact on day-to-day scientific practice, it plays a vital role in justifying and defending the scientific approach. Philosophy of science is the study of assumptions foundations and implications of Science. Sociology of science is the subfield of Sociology that deals with the practice of Science. Philosophy of science is the study of assumptions foundations and implications of Science. Philosophy of science looks at the underpinning logic of the scientific method, at what separates science from non-science, and the ethic that is implicit in science. The demarcation problem in the Philosophy of science is about how and where to draw the lines around Science. Research ethics involves the application of fundamental Ethical principles to a variety of topics involving Scientific research.
We find ourselves in a world that is not directly understandable. We find that we sometimes disagree with others as to the facts of the things we see in the world around us, and we find that there are things in the world that are at odds with our present understanding. Generally a fact is defined as something that is true something that actually exists or something that can be verified according to an established standard of evaluation The scientific method attempts to provide a way in which we can reach agreement and understanding. A "perfect" scientific method might work in such a way that rational application of the method would always result in agreement and understanding; a perfect method would arguably be algorithmic, and so not leave any room for rational agents to disagree. Rationality as a term is related to the idea of Reason, a word which following Webster's may be derived as much from older terms referring to In Mathematics, Computing, Linguistics and related subjects an algorithm is a sequence of finite instructions often used for Calculation As with all philosophical topics, the search has been neither straightforward nor simple. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Logical Positivist, empiricist, falsificationist, and other theories have claimed to give a definitive account of the logic of science, but each has in turn been criticized. Logical positivism (later and more accurately called logical empiricism) is a school of philosophy that combines Empiricism, the idea that observational evidence is In Philosophy, empiricism is a theory of Knowledge which asserts that knowledge arises from Experience. Falsifiability (or "refutability" is the logical possibility that an assertion can be shown false by an observation or a physical experiment
Thomas Samuel Kuhn examined the history of science in his The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, and found that the actual method used by scientists differed dramatically from the then-espoused method. Thomas Samuel Kuhn (surname ˈkuːn July 18, 1922 &ndash June 17, 1996) was an American intellectual who wrote extensively The Structure of Scientific Revolutions ( 1962) by Thomas Kuhn, is an analysis of the History of science.
Imre Lakatos and Thomas Kuhn have done extensive work on the "theory laden" character of observation. Imre Lakatos ( November 9, 1922 – February 2, 1974) was a Philosopher of mathematics and science, Thomas Samuel Kuhn (surname ˈkuːn July 18, 1922 &ndash June 17, 1996) was an American intellectual who wrote extensively Kuhn (1961) said the scientist generally has a theory in mind before designing and undertaking experiments so as to make empirical observations, and that the "route from theory to measurement can almost never be traveled backward". This implies that the way in which theory is tested is dictated by the nature of the theory itself, which led Kuhn (1961, p. 166) to argue that "once it has been adopted by a profession . . . no theory is recognized to be testable by any quantitative tests that it has not already passed".
Paul Feyerabend similarly examined the history of science, and was led to deny that science is genuinely a methodological process. Paul Karl Feyerabend ( January 13, 1924 – February 11, 1994) was an Austrian born Philosopher of science best known for In his book Against Method he argues that scientific progress is not the result of applying any particular method. Paul Karl Feyerabend ( January 13, 1924 – February 11, 1994) was an Austrian born Philosopher of science best known for In essence, he says that "anything goes", by which he meant that for any specific methodology or norm of science, successful science has been done in violation of it. Criticisms such as his led to the strong programme, a radical approach to the sociology of science. The strong programme is a variety of the Sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK particularly associated with David Bloor, Barry Barnes, Harry Collins Sociology of science is the subfield of Sociology that deals with the practice of Science.
In his 1958 book, Personal Knowledge, chemist and philosopher Michael Polanyi (1891-1976) criticized the common view that the scientific method is purely objective and generates objective knowledge. Michael Polanyi (born Polányi Mihály) ( March 11, 1891, Budapest – February 22, 1976) was a Hungarian – Polanyi cast this view as a misunderstanding of the scientific method and of the nature of scientific inquiry, generally. He argued that scientists do and must follow personal passions in appraising facts and in determining which scientific questions to investigate. He concluded that a structure of liberty is essential for the advancement of science - that the freedom to pursue science for its own sake is a prerequisite for the production of knowledge through peer review and the scientific method.
The postmodernist critiques of science have themselves been the subject of intense controversy and heated dialogue. Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism This ongoing debate, known as the science wars, is the result of the conflicting values and assumptions held by the postmodernist and realist camps. The Science wars were a series of intellectual battles in the 1990s between " Postmodernists " and " realists " (though neither party would likely Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism Scientific realism is at the most general level the view that the world described by science is the real world as it is independent of what we might take it to be Whereas postmodernists assert that scientific knowledge is simply another discourse and not representative of any form of fundamental truth, realists in the scientific community maintain that scientific knowledge does reveal real and fundamental truths about reality. Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism Scientific realism is at the most general level the view that the world described by science is the real world as it is independent of what we might take it to be Many books have been written by scientists which take on this problem and challenge the assertions of the postmodernists while defending science as a legitimate method of deriving truth. Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism [39][40][41][42][43]
Communication, community, culture
Frequently the scientific method is not employed by a single person, but by several people cooperating directly or indirectly. Such cooperation can be regarded as one of the defining elements of a scientific community. The scientific community consists of the total body of Scientists its relationships and interactions Various techniques have been developed to ensure the integrity of the scientific method within such an environment.
Peer review evaluation
Scientific journals use a process of peer review, in which scientists' manuscripts are submitted by editors of scientific journals to (usually one to three) fellow (usually anonymous) scientists familiar with the field for evaluation. Peer review (also known as refereeing) is the process of subjecting an author's scholarly work research or Ideas to the scrutiny of others who are The referees may or may not recommend publication, publication with suggested modifications, or, sometimes, publication in another journal. This serves to keep the scientific literature free of unscientific or crackpot work, helps to cut down on obvious errors, and generally otherwise improve the quality of the scientific literature. Work announced in the popular press before going through this process is generally frowned upon. Sometimes peer review inhibits the circulation of unorthodox work, especially if it undermines the establishment in the particular field, and at other times may be too permissive. Other drawbacks includes cronyism and favoritism. The peer review process is not always successful, but has been very widely adopted by the scientific community.
Documentation and replication
Sometimes experimenters may make systematic errors during their experiments, unconsciously veer from the scientific method (Pathological science) for various reasons, or, in rare cases, deliberately falsify their results. Distinguish from the genuine medical-related science called Pathology. Consequently, it is a common practice for other scientists to attempt to repeat the experiments in order to duplicate the results, thus further validating the hypothesis.
Archiving
As a result, researchers are expected to practice scientific data archiving in compliance with the policies of government funding agencies and scientific journals. Scientific data archiving refers to the long-term storage of scientific data and methods Detailed records of their experimental procedures, raw data, statistical analyses and source code are preserved in order to provide evidence of the effectiveness and integrity of the procedure and assist in reproduction. Reproducibility is one of the main principles of the Scientific method, and refers to the ability of a test or Experiment to be accurately reproduced or replicated These procedural records may also assist in the conception of new experiments to test the hypothesis, and may prove useful to engineers who might examine the potential practical applications of a discovery.
Dearchiving
When additional information is needed before a study can be reproduced, the author of the study is expected to provide it promptly - although a small charge may apply. If the author refuses to share data, appeals can be made to the journal editors who published the study or to the institution who funded the research. Data sharing is required in most academic research but is not ubiquitous
Limitations
Note that it is not possible for a scientist to record everything that took place in an experiment. He must select the facts he believes to be relevant to the experiment and report them. This may lead, unavoidably, to problems later if some supposedly irrelevant feature is questioned. For example, Heinrich Hertz did not report the size of the room used to test Maxwell's equations, which later turned out to account for a small deviation in the results. Heinrich Rudolf Hertz ( February 22, 1857 – January 1, 1894) was a German physicist who clarified and expanded the electromagnetic theory The problem is that parts of the theory itself need to be assumed in order to select and report the experimental conditions. The observations are hence sometimes described as being 'theory-laden'.
Dimensions of practice
- Further information: Rhetoric of science
The primary constraints on contemporary western science are:
- Publication, i. Rhetoric of science is a body of scholarly literature exploring the notion that the practice of scientific inquiry is a rhetorical activity e. Peer review
- Resources (mostly funding)
It has not always been like this: in the old days of the "gentleman scientist" funding (and to a lesser extent publication) were far weaker constraints. Peer review (also known as refereeing) is the process of subjecting an author's scholarly work research or Ideas to the scrutiny of others who are A gentleman scientist is a Scientist with a Private income who can pursue Scientific study independently as he wishes without excessive external financial
Both of these constraints indirectly bring in a scientific method — work that too obviously violates the constraints will be difficult to publish and difficult to get funded. Journals do not require submitted papers to conform to anything more specific than "good scientific practice" and this is mostly enforced by peer review. Originality, importance and interest are more important - see for example the author guidelines for Nature. Nature is a prominent Scientific journal, first published on 4 November 1869
Criticisms (see Critical theory) of these restraints are that they are so nebulous in definition (e. In the Humanities and Social sciences, critical theory is the examination and critique of Society and Literature, drawing from knowledge across g. "good scientific practice") and open to ideological, or even political, manipulation apart from a rigorous practice of a scientific method, that they often serve to censor rather than promote scientific discovery. Apparent censorship through refusal to publish ideas unpopular with mainstream scientists (unpopular because of ideological reasons and/or because they seem to contradict long held scientific theories) has soured the popular perception of scientists as being neutral or seekers of truth and often denigrated popular perception of science as a whole.
History
The development of the scientific method is inseparable from the history of science itself. The history of Scientific method is inseparable from the History of science itself This Timeline of the history of scientific method shows an overview of the Cultural inventions that have contributed to the development of the Scientific method. Science is a body of empirical, theoretical, and practical knowledge about the natural world, produced by a global community of researchers Ancient Egyptian documents, such as early papyri, describe methods of medical diagnosis. Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now Papyrus (/pəˈpaɪrəs/ (Rhymes -aɪrəs)is a thick paper-like material produced from the Pith of the papyrus plant Cyperus papyrus In ancient Greek culture, the method of empiricism was described. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca In Philosophy, empiricism is a theory of Knowledge which asserts that knowledge arises from Experience. The first experimental scientific method was developed by Muslim scientists, who introduced the use of experimentation and quantification to distinguish between competing scientific theories set within a generally empirical orientation, which emerged with Alhacen's optical experiments in his Book of Optics (1021). In scientific inquiry an experiment ( Latin: Ex- periri, "to try out" is a method of investigating particular types of research questions or In scientific inquiry an experiment ( Latin: Ex- periri, "to try out" is a method of investigating particular types of research questions or Quantification has two distinct meanings In Mathematics and Empirical science, it refers to human acts known as Counting and Measuring TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Arabic: ابو علی، حسن بن حسن بن هيثم Latinized The Book of Optics ( Arabic: Kitab al-Manazir, Latin: De Aspectibus or Opticae Thesaurus Alhazeni [44][45] The modern scientific method crystallized no later than in the 17th and 18th centuries. In his work Novum Organum (1620) — a reference to Aristotle's Organon — Francis Bacon outlined a new system of logic to improve upon the old philosophical process of syllogism. The Novum Organum is a philosophical work by Francis Bacon published in 1620. The Organon is the name given by Aristotle 's followers the Peripatetics to the standard collection of his six works on Logic. Francis Bacon 1st Viscount St Alban KC QC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626 was an English Philosopher, Statesman, and author In formal logic, a formal system (also called a logical system, a logistic system, or simply a logic Formal systems in mathematics consist Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language A syllogism, or logical appeal, (συλλογισμός &mdash "conclusion" "inference" (usually the categorical syllogism) is a kind of Then, in 1637, René Descartes established the framework for a scientific method's guiding principles in his treatise, Discourse on Method. Organization How to think correctly The Method of Science Morals Maxims deduced from this Method Proof of God and the Soul Physics the heart The writings of Alhacen, Bacon and Descartes are considered critical in the historical development of the modern scientific method.
In the late 19th century, Charles Sanders Peirce proposed a schema that would turn out to have considerable influence in the development of current scientific method generally. Charles Sanders Peirce (pronounced purse) (September 10 1839 &ndash April 19 1914 was an American Logician mathematician, philosopher Peirce accelerated the progress on several fronts. Firstly, speaking in broader context in "How to Make Our Ideas Clear" (1878) [3], Peirce outlined an objectively verifiable method to test the truth of putative knowledge on a way that goes beyond mere foundational alternatives, focusing upon both deduction and induction. He thus placed induction and deduction in a complementary rather than competitive context (the latter of which had been the primary trend at least since David Hume, who wrote in the mid-to-late 18th century). David Hume (26 April 1711 25 August 1776 Scottish Philosopher, Economist, and Historian is an important figure in Western philosophy Secondly, and of more direct importance to modern method, Peirce put forth the basic schema for hypothesis/testing that continues to prevail today. Extracting the theory of inquiry from its raw materials in classical logic, he refined it in parallel with the early development of symbolic logic to address the then-current problems in scientific reasoning. Peirce examined and articulated the three fundamental modes of reasoning that, as discussed above in this article, play a role in inquiry today, the processes that are currently known as abductive, deductive, and inductive inference. Abduction, or inference to the best explanation, is a method of Reasoning in which one chooses the hypothesis that would if true best explain the relevant evidence Deductive reasoning is Reasoning which uses deductive Arguments to move from given statements ( Premises to Conclusions which must be true if the Induction or inductive reasoning, sometimes called inductive logic, is the process of Reasoning in which the premises of an argument are believed Thirdly, he played a major role in the progress of symbolic logic itself — indeed this was his primary specialty.
Karl Popper denied the existence of evidence[46] and of scientific method. Sir Karl Raimund Popper ( July 28 1902 &ndash September 17 1994) was an Austrian and British Philosopher and a professor [47] Popper holds that there is only one universal method, the negative method of trial and error. It covers not only all products of the human mind, including science, mathematics, philosophy, art and so on, but also the evolution of life. [48]
Relationship with mathematics
Science is the process of gathering, comparing, and evaluating proposed models against observables. In Physics, particularly in Quantum physics, a system observable is a property of the system state that can be determined by some sequence of physical A model can be a simulation, mathematical or chemical formula, or set of proposed steps. Science is like mathematics in that researchers in both disciplines can clearly distinguish what is known from what is unknown at each stage of discovery. Models, in both science and mathematics, need to be internally consistent and also ought to be falsifiable (capable of disproof). Falsifiability (or "refutability" is the logical possibility that an assertion can be shown false by an observation or a physical experiment In mathematics, a statement need not yet be proven; at such a stage, that statement would be called a conjecture. In Mathematics, a conjecture is a Mathematical statement which appears resourceful but has not been formally proven to be true under the rules of But when a statement has attained mathematical proof, that statement gains a kind of immortality which is highly prized by mathematicians, and for which some mathematicians devote their lives[49].
Mathematical work and scientific work can inspire each other[50]. For example, the concept of time arose in science, and timelessness was a hallmark of a mathematical topic. For other uses see Time (disambiguation Time is a component of a measuring system used to sequence events to compare the durations of Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding But today, the Poincaré conjecture is in the process of being proven, using time as a mathematical concept, in which objects can flow (see Ricci flow). In Mathematics, the Poincaré conjecture (French pwɛ̃kaʀe is a Theorem about the characterization of the three-dimensional sphere among In Differential geometry, the Ricci flow is an intrinsic Geometric flow —a process which deforms the metric of a Riemannian manifold —in this case in
George Pólya's work on problem solving[51], the construction of mathematical proofs, and heuristic[52][53] show that mathematical method and scientific method differ in detail, while resembling each other in the use of iterative or recursive steps. George Pólya (b December 13, 1887 &ndash d September 7, 1985, in Hungarian Pólya György) was a Hungarian Problem solving forms part of thinking. Considered the most complex of all intellectual functions problem solving has been defined as higher-order Cognitive heuristic (hyu̇-ˈris-tik is a method to help solve a problem commonly an informal method
In Pólya's view, understanding involves restating unfamiliar definitions in your own words, resorting to geometrical figures, and questioning what we know and do not know already; analysis, which Pólya takes from Pappus[54], involves free and heuristic construction of plausible arguments, working backward from the goal, and devising a plan for constructing the proof; synthesis is the strict Euclidean exposition of step-by-step details[55] of the proof; review involves reconsidering and re-examining the result and the path taken to it. George Pólya 's 1945 Book How to Solve It is a small volume describing methods of Problem solving. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena Understanding (also called intellection) is a psychological Process related to an abstract or physical object such as Person, situation or Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena Analysis (from Greek ἀνάλυσις, "a breaking up" is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts to gain a Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena See also Critic. A review is an evaluation of a publication such as a movie, Video game, Musical composition Novell exteNd, formerly known as SilverStream was a web application development suite from Novell that was discontinued in 2005 Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena Euclid ( Greek:.) fl 300 BC also known as Euclid of Alexandria, is often referred to as the Father of Geometry
See also
Synopsis of related topics
Logic, mathematics, methodology
Problems and issues
History, philosophy, sociology
Notes and references
- ^ Isaac Newton (1687, 1713, 1726). The Baconian method is the investigative method developed by Francis Bacon. Empirical method is generally taken to mean the collection of data on which to base a Theory or derive a conclusion in Science. The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which Historians use Primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write history Philosophical method (or philosophical methodology) is the study of how to do Philosophy. Quantitative research is the systematic scientific investigation of Quantitative properties and Phenomena and their relationships The objective of quantitative Scholarly method &mdash or as it is more commonly called scholarship &mdash is the body of principles and practices used by scholars to make their claims about the world as A verificationist is someone who adheres to the verification principle proposed by A Falsifiability (or "refutability" is the logical possibility that an assertion can be shown false by an observation or a physical experiment A hypothesis (from Greek) consists either of a suggested explanation for a phenomenon (an event that is observable or of a reasoned proposal suggesting a possible A statistical hypothesis test is a method of making statistical decisions using experimental data Inquiry or enquiry is any process that has the aim of augmenting Knowledge, resolving Doubt, or solving a Problem. Reproducibility is one of the main principles of the Scientific method, and refers to the ability of a test or Experiment to be accurately reproduced or replicated Research is defined as Human activity based on Intellectual application in the investigation of Matter. Statistics is a mathematical science pertaining to the collection analysis interpretation or explanation and presentation of Data. Strong Inference is a Model of scientific inquiry developed by John R In Propositional logic, a tautology (from the Greek word ταυτολογία is a Propositional formula that is true under any possible valuation Testability, a property applying to an Empirical Hypothesis, involves two components (1 the logical property that is variously described as Contingency The word theory has many distinct meanings in different fields of Knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. Verification & Validation is the process of checking that a product service or system meets specifications and that it fulfils its intended purpose Inference is the act or process of deriving a Conclusion based solely on what one already knows Abduction, or inference to the best explanation, is a method of Reasoning in which one chooses the hypothesis that would if true best explain the relevant evidence Deductive reasoning is Reasoning which uses deductive Arguments to move from given statements ( Premises to Conclusions which must be true if the Induction or inductive reasoning, sometimes called inductive logic, is the process of Reasoning in which the premises of an argument are believed Information theory is a branch of Applied mathematics and Electrical engineering involving the quantification of Information. Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and Inference. Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Methodology (also called manner) is defined as "the analysis of the principles of methods rules and postulates employed by a discipline" Occam's razor (sometimes spelled Ockham's razor) is a principle attributed to the 14th-century English Logician and Franciscan Friar, The poverty of the stimulus ( POTS) Argument is a variant of the epistemological problem of the indeterminacy of data to theory that claims that In Statistics, the reference class problem is the problem of defining a bayesian prior distribution by the method of Imaginary reference sets It follows Underdetermination (sometimes indeterminacy of data to theory) is a term used in the discussion of theories and their relation to the evidence that is cited to support A skeptical hypothesis is a hypothetical situation which can be used in an argument for Skepticism about a particular claim or class of claims Holism in science, or Holistic science, is an approach to Research that emphasizes the study of Complex systems. Pseudoscience is defined as a body of knowledge methodology belief or practice that is claimed to be Scientific or made to appear scientific but does not adhere to the Junk science is a term used in US political and legal disputes that brands an advocate's claims about scientific Data, Research, Scientific misconduct is the violation of the standard codes of scholarly conduct and ethical behavior in Professional scientific research. The demarcation problem in the Philosophy of science is about how and where to draw the lines around Science. Cudos is an acronym used to denote principles that should guide good scientific research Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge In Philosophy, epistemic theories of truth are attempts to analyze the notion of Truth in terms of Epistemic notions such as Knowledge Science is a body of empirical, theoretical, and practical knowledge about the natural world, produced by a global community of researchers The history of Scientific method is inseparable from the History of science itself Philosophy of science is the study of assumptions foundations and implications of Science. Science studies is an interdisciplinary research area that seeks to situate scientific Expertise in a broad social historical and philosophical context Social research refers to Research conducted by Social scientists (primarily within Sociology and Social psychology) but also within other disciplines The sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK closely related to the Sociology of science, considers social influences on Science. This Timeline of the history of scientific method shows an overview of the Cultural inventions that have contributed to the development of the Scientific method. Sir Isaac Newton, FRS (ˈnjuːtən 4 January 1643 31 March 1727) Biography Early years See also Isaac Newton's early life and achievements "[4] Rules for the study of natural philosophy", Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Third edition. For the current in the 19th century German idealism see Naturphilosophie Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature (from The Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica ( Latin: "mathematical principles of natural philosophy" often Principia The General Scholium containing the 4 rules follows Book 3, The System of the World. Reprinted on pages 794-796 of I. Bernard Cohen and Anne Whitman's 1999 translation, University of California Press ISBN 0-520-08817-4, 974 pages. I Bernard Cohen ( 1 March 1914 – 20 June 2003) was the Victor S University of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a Publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in Academic
- ^ scientific method, Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, which was originally the G & C Merriam Company of Springfield Massachusetts, is an American company that publishes reference books
- ^ Alhazen (Ibn Al-Haytham) Critique of Ptolemy, translated by S. TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Arabic: ابو علی، حسن بن حسن بن هيثم Latinized TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Arabic: ابو علی، حسن بن حسن بن هيثم Latinized Pines, Actes X Congrès internationale d'histoire des sciences, Vol I Ithaca 1962, as referenced on p. 139 of Shmuel Sambursky (ed. 1974) Physical Thought from the Presocratics to the Quantum Physicists ISBN 0-87663-712-8
- ^ Alhazen, translated into English from German by M. Schwarz, from "Abhandlung über das Licht", J. Baarmann (ed. 1882) Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft Vol 36 as referenced on p. The Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft ( ZDMG) is a journal of Oriental studies, published by the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft 136 by Shmuel Sambursky (1974), Physical thought from the Presocratics to the Quantum Physicists, ISBN 0-87663-712-8.
- ^ p. 136, as quoted by Shmuel Sambursky (1974) Physical thought from the Presocratics to the Quantum Physicists ISBN 0-87663-712-8.
- ^ ". . . the statement of a law—A depends on B—always transcends experience. " p. 6 —Max Born (1949), Natural Philosophy of Cause and Chance
- ^ "I believe that we do not know anything for certain, but everything probably. " —Christiaan Huygens, Letter to Pierre Perrault, 'Sur la préface de M. Christiaan Huygens (ˈhaɪgənz in English ˈhœyɣəns in Dutch) ( April 14, 1629 &ndash July 8, 1695) was a Dutch Perrault de son traité del'Origine des fontaines' [1763], Oeuvres Complétes de Christiaan Huygens (1897), Vol. 7, 298. Quoted in Jacques Roger, The Life Sciences in Eighteenth-Century French Thought, ed. Keith R. Benson and trans. Robert Ellrich (1997), 163. Quotation selected by W. F. Bynum and Roy Porter (eds. , 2005), Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations ISBN 0-19-858409-1 p. 317 quotation 4.
- ^ "Observation and experiment are subject to a very popular myth. . . . The knower is seen as a . . . Julius Caesar winning his battles according to . . . formula. Even research workers will admit that the first observation may have been a little imprecise, whereas the second and third were 'adjusted to the facts' . . . until tradition, education, and familiarity have produced a readiness for stylized (that is directed and restricted) perception and action; until an answer becomes largely pre-formed in the question, and a decision confined merely to 'yes' or 'no' or perhaps to a numerical determination; until methods and apparatus automatically carry out the greatest part of the mental work for us. " Fleck labels this thought style (Denkstil). Ludwik Fleck, p. Ludwik Fleck ( July 11, 1896 &ndash July 5, 1961) (also written as Ludwig) was a Polish medical 84 of Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact (written in German, 1935, Entstehung und Entwickelung einer wissenschaftlichen Tatsache: Einführung in die Lehre vom Denkstil und Denkkollectiv) ISBN 0-226-25325-2
- ^ See the hypothethico-deductive method, for example: p. See also Falsifiability The hypothetico-deductive model, or method is a proposed description of Scientific method. 236 —Peter Godfrey-Smith (2003), Theory and Reality: An introduction to the philosophy of science ISBN 0-226-30063-3
- ^ pp. 265-6 (in the Dover edition) —William Stanley Jevons (1873), The principles of science: a treatise on logic and scientific method. ISBN 1430487755
- ^ pp. 65,73,92,398 —Andrew J. Galambos, Sic Itur ad Astra ISBN 0-88078-004-5(AJG learned scientific method from Felix Ehrenhaft)
- ^ Galileo Galilei Linceo (1638), Discorsi e Dimonstrazioni Matematiche, intorno a due nuoue scienze. Galileo Galilei (15 February 1564 &ndash 8 January 1642 was a Tuscan ( Italian) Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer, and Philosopher The Accademia dei Lincei, (literally the " Academy of the Lynxes" but also known as the Lincean Academy) is an Italian science academy located The Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences ( Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche intorno a due nuove scienze, 1638 was Galileo's In Leida, Apresso gli Elsevirri M.D.C.XXXVIII. "Leyden" redirects here For other uses see Leyden (disambiguation. Elzevir is the name of a celebrated family of Dutch booksellers publishers and printers of the 17th and early 18th centuries Two New Sciences was selected from the collection of the Library of Congress by Leonard C. Bruno (1988), The Landmarks of Science ISBN 0-8160-2137-6
- ^ Thomas A. Brody, Luis De LA Pena, and Peter E. Hodgson call this the "epistemic cycle" in The Philosophy Behind Physics, Springer Verlag ISBN 0-387-55914-0, pp. 10-24. : "The epistemic cycle starts from an initial model; iterations of the cycle then improve the model until an adequate fit is achieved. ".
- ^ Iteration example: Chaldean astronomers such as Kidinnu compiled astronomical data. Kidinnu (also Kidunnu) ( fl 4th century BC? possibly died 14 August 330 BC was a Chaldean astronomer and mathematician. Hipparchus was to use this data to calculate the precession of the Earth's axis. Hipparchus ( Greek; ca 190 BC &ndash ca 120 BC was a Greek Astronomer, Geographer, and Mathematician of the Hellenistic Precession refers to a change in the direction of the axis of a rotating object EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 Fifteen hundred years after Kiddinu, Al-Batani, born in what is now Turkey, would use the collected data and improve Hipparchus' value for the precession of the Earth's axis. Al-Batani's value, 54. 5 arc-seconds per year, compares well to the current value of 49. 8 arc-seconds per year (26,000 years for Earth's axis to round the circle of nutation). Nutation is a slight irregular motion (etymologically a "nodding" in the Axis of rotation of a largely axially symmetric object such as a Gyroscope
- ^ Recursion example: the Earth is itself a magnet, with its own North and South Poles William Gilbert (in Latin 1600) De Magnete, or On Magnetism and Magnetic Bodies. William Gilbert, also known as Gilbard ( Colchester, England, May 24, 1544 &ndash London, England, November 30 Translated from Latin to English, selection by Forest Ray Moulton and Justus J. Schifferes (eds. , Second Edition 1960) The Autobiography of Science pp. 113-117
- ^ "The foundation of general physics . . . is experience. These . . . everyday experiences we do not discover without deliberately directing our attention to them. Collecting information about these is observation. " —Hans Christian Ørsted("First Introduction to General Physics" ¶13, part of a series of public lectures at the University of Copenhagen. Copenhagen 1811, in Danish, printed by Johan Frederik Schulz. In Kirstine Meyer's 1920 edition of Ørsted's works, vol. III pp. 151-190. ) "First Introduction to Physics: the Spirit, Meaning, and Goal of Natural Science". Reprinted in German in 1822, Schweigger's Journal für Chemie und Physik 36, pp. 458-488. Translated to English by Karen Jelved, Andrew D. Jackson, and Ole Knudsen, (translators 1997) Selected Scientific Works of Hans Christian Ørsted, ISBN 0-691-04334-5 p. 292
- ^ "When it is not clear under which law of nature an effect or class of effect belongs, we try to fill this gap by means of a guess. Such guesses have been given the name conjectures or hypotheses. A hypothesis (from Greek) consists either of a suggested explanation for a phenomenon (an event that is observable or of a reasoned proposal suggesting a possible " —Hans Christian Ørsted(1811) "First Introduction to General Physics" ¶18. Selected Scientific Works of Hans Christian Ørsted, ISBN 0-691-04334-5 p. 297
- ^ "In general we look for a new law by the following process. First we guess it. . . . ", p. 156 —Richard Feynman (1965), The Character of Physical Law ISBN 0-262-56003-8
- ^ ". Richard Phillips Feynman (ˈfaɪnmən May 11 1918 – February 15 1988 was an American Physicist known for the Path integral formulation of quantum . . the statement of a law - A depends on B - always transcends experience. " p. 6 —Max Born (1949), Natural Philosophy of Cause and Chance
- ^ "The student of nature . . . regards as his property the experiences which the mathematican can only borrow. This is why he deduces theorems directly from the nature of an effect while the mathematician only arrives at them circuitously. " —Hans Christian Ørsted(1811) "First Introduction to General Physics" ¶17. Selected Scientific Works of Hans Christian Ørsted, ISBN 0-691-04334-5 p. 297
- ^ Salviati speaks: "I greatly doubt that Aristotle ever tested by experiment whether it be true that two stones, one weighing ten times as much as the other, if allowed to fall, at the same instant, from a height of, say, 100 cubits, would so differ in speed that when the heavier had reached the ground, the other would not have fallen more than 10 cubits. " p. 61[1] —Galileo (1638), Two New Sciences as translated from Italian to English by Henry Crew and Alfonso di Salvio (1914). The Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences ( Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche intorno a due nuove scienze, 1638 was Galileo's A more extended quotation is referenced on pp. 80-81 by Forest Ray Moulton and Justus J. Schifferes (eds. , Second Edition 1960) The Autobiography of Science
- ^ In the inquiry-based education paradigm, the stage of "characterization, observation, definition, …" is more briefly summed up under the rubric of a Question. Inquiry-based learning or inquiry-based science describes a range of philosophical curricular and pedagogical approaches to teaching
- ^ "To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science. " p. 92, Albert Einstein and Leopold Infeld (1938), The Evolution of Physics: from early concepts to relativity and quanta ISBN 0-671-20156-5
- ^ Crawford S, Stucki L (1990), "Peer review and the changing research record", "J Am Soc Info Science", vol. Albert Einstein ( German: ˈalbɐt ˈaɪ̯nʃtaɪ̯n; English: ˈælbɝt ˈaɪnstaɪn (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955 was a German -born theoretical Leopold Infeld ( August 20, 1898, Cracow &ndash January 15, 1968, Warsaw) was a Polish Physicist. 41, pp 223-228
- ^ See, e. g. , Gauch, Hugh G. , Jr. , Scientific Method in Practice (2003), esp. chapters 5-8
- ^ Cochran W, Crick FHC and Vand V. (1952) "The Structure of Synthetic Polypeptides. I. The Transform of Atoms on a Helix", Acta Cryst. , 5, 581-586.
- ^ Andreas Vesalius, Epistola, Rationem, Modumque Propinandi Radicis Chynae Decocti (1546), 141. Quoted and translated in C. D. O'Malley, Andreas Vesalius of Brussels, (1964), 116. As quoted by W. F. Bynum & Roy Porter (2005), Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations Andreas Vesalius, 597:1 ISBN 0-19-858409-1
- ^ Crick, Francis (1994), The Astonishing Hypothesis ISBN 0-684-19431-7 p. 20
- ^ Glen,William (ed. ), The Mass-Extinction Debates: How Science Works in a Crisis, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 1994. ISBN 0-8047-2285-4. pp. 37-38.
- ^ "The instant I saw the picture my mouth fell open and my pulse began to race. " -- James D. Watson (1968), The Double Helix, page 167. New York: Atheneum, Library of Congress card number 68-16217. Page 168 shows the X-shaped pattern of the B-form of DNA, clearly indicating crucial details of its helical structure to Watson and Crick. Deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) is a Nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known
- ^ See, e. g. , Physics Today, Vol. 59, #1, p42. [2]
- ^ Aristotle, "Prior Analytics", Hugh Tredennick (trans. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Prior Analytics is Aristotle 's work on Deductive reasoning, part of his Organon, the instrument or manual of Logical ), pp. 181-531 in Aristotle, Volume 1, Loeb Classical Library, William Heinemann, London, UK, 1938.
- ^ Peirce, C.S., "Lectures on Pragmatism", Cambridge, MA, March 26 – May 17, 1903. Charles Sanders Peirce (pronounced purse) (September 10 1839 &ndash April 19 1914 was an American Logician mathematician, philosopher Reprinted in part, Collected Papers, CP 5. 14–212, Eprint. Reprinted with Introduction and Commentary, Patricia Ann Turisi (ed. ), Pragmatism as a Principle and a Method of Right Thinking: The 1903 Harvard "Lectures on Pragmatism", State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, 1997. Reprinted, pp. 133–241, Peirce Edition Project (eds. ), The Essential Peirce, Selected Philosophical Writings, Volume 2 (1893–1913), Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN, 1998.
- ^ Peirce, C. S. (1877), "The Fixation of Belief", Popular Science Monthly, vol. 12, pp. 1–15. Reprinted (Chance, Love, and Logic, pp. 7-31), (Collected Papers vol. 5, paras. 358–387), (Philosophical Writings of Peirce, pp. 5-22), (Selected Writings, pp. 91-112), (Writings of Charles S. Peirce: The Chronological Edition, vol. 3, pp. 242–257), (The Essential Peirce: Volume 1, pp. 109–123), (Peirce on Signs, pp. 144-159). Eprint. Internet Archive Popular Science Monthly 12.
- ^ a b c Peirce, C. S. (1877), "How to Make Our Ideas Clear", Popular Science Monthly, vol. 12, pp. 286–302. Reprinted (Chance, Love, and Logic, pp. 32-60), (Collected Papers, vol. 5, pp. 388–410), (Philosophical Writings of Peirce, pp. 23-41), (Selected Writings, pp. 113-136), (Writings of Charles S. Peirce: The Chronological Edition, vol. 3, pp. 257–276), (The Essential Peirce: Volume 1, pp. 124–141), (Peirce on Signs, pp. 160-179). Eprint. Arisbe Eprint. Internet Archive Popular Science Monthly 12.
- ^ a b Peirce, C. S. (1908), "A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God", Hibbert Journal vol. 7, pp. 90-112. Reprinted (Collected Papers, vol. 6, paras. 452-485), (Selected Writings, pp. 358-379), (The Essential Peirce: Volume 2, 434-450), (Peirce on Signs, pp. 260-278). Internet Archive Hibbert Journal 7.
- ^ See "Pragmatism -- The Logic of Abduction", Collected Papers, vol. 5, paras. 195-205, especially para. 196. Eprint.
- ^ Peirce, C. S. , (1878) "The Probability of Induction", Popular Science Monthly, vol. 12, pp. 705-718. Reprinted (Chance, Love, and Logic, pp. 82-105), (Collected Papers vol. 2, paras. 669-693), (Philosophical Writings of Peirce, pp. 174-189), (Writings of Charles S. Peirce: The Chronological Edition, vol. 3, pp. 290-305), (The Essential Peirce: Volume 1, pp. 155-169). Popular Science Monthly 12 Eprint at Internet Archive.
- ^ Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels with Science, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997
- ^ Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science, Picador; 1st Picador USA Pbk. Ed edition, 1999
- ^ The Sokal Hoax: The Sham That Shook the Academy, University of Nebraska Press, 2000 ISBN 0803279957
- ^ A House Built on Sand: Exposing Postmodernist Myths About Science, Oxford University Press, 2000
- ^ Intellectual Impostures, Economist Books, 2003
- ^ Rosanna Gorini (2003), "Al-Haytham the Man of Experience, First Steps in the Science of Vision", International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine, Institute of Neurosciences, Laboratory of Psychobiology and Psychopharmacology, Rome, Italy:
"According to the majority of the historians al-Haytham was the pioneer of the modern scientific method. With his book he changed the meaning of the term optics and established experiments as the norm of proof in the field. His investigations are based not on abstract theories, but on experimental evidences and his experiments were systematic and repeatable. "
- ^ David Agar (2001). Arabic Studies in Physics and Astronomy During 800 - 1400 AD. University of Jyväskylä. The University of Jyväskylä (Jyväskylän yliopisto is a University in Jyväskylä, Finland.
- ^ Logik der Forschung, new appendix *XIX (not yet available in the English edition Logic of scientific discovery)
- ^ Karl Popper: On the non-existence of scientific method. Realism and the Aim of Science (1983)
- ^ Karl Popper: Objective Knowledge (1972)
- ^ "When we are working intensively, we feel keenly the progress of our work; we are elated when our progress is rapid, we are depressed when it is slow. " page 131, in the section on 'Modern heuristic'-- the mathematician George Pólya (1957), How to solve it, Second edition. heuristic (hyu̇-ˈris-tik is a method to help solve a problem commonly an informal method George Pólya (b December 13, 1887 &ndash d September 7, 1985, in Hungarian Pólya György) was a Hungarian George Pólya 's 1945 Book How to Solve It is a small volume describing methods of Problem solving.
- ^ "Philosophy [i. e. , physics] is written in this grand book--I mean the universe--which stands continually open to our gaze, but it cannot be understood unless one first learns to comprehend the language and interpret the characters in which it is written. It is written in the language of mathematics, and its characters are triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures, without which it is humanly impossible to understand a single word of it; without these, one is wandering around in a dark labyrinth. " —Galileo Galilei, Il Saggiatore (The Assayer, 1623) as referenced by G. The Assayer was a book published in Rome by Galileo Galilei in October 1623 Toraldo di Francia (1981), The Investigation of the Physical World ISBN 0-521-29925-X
- ^ George Pólya, How to Solve It
- ^ George Pólya, Mathematics and Plausible Reasoning Volume I: Induction and Analogy in Mathematics,
- ^ George Pólya, Mathematics and Plausible Reasoning Volume II: Patterns of Plausible Reasoning. George Pólya (b December 13, 1887 &ndash d September 7, 1985, in Hungarian Pólya György) was a Hungarian George Pólya 's 1945 Book How to Solve It is a small volume describing methods of Problem solving.
- ^ George Pólya (1957), How to Solve It Second edition p. George Pólya (b December 13, 1887 &ndash d September 7, 1985, in Hungarian Pólya György) was a Hungarian George Pólya 's 1945 Book How to Solve It is a small volume describing methods of Problem solving. 142
- ^ George Pólya (1957), How to Solve It Second edition p. George Pólya (b December 13, 1887 &ndash d September 7, 1985, in Hungarian Pólya György) was a Hungarian George Pólya 's 1945 Book How to Solve It is a small volume describing methods of Problem solving. 144
Further reading
- Bacon, Francis Novum Organum (The New Organon), 1620. Francis Bacon 1st Viscount St Alban KC QC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626 was an English Philosopher, Statesman, and author The Novum Organum is a philosophical work by Francis Bacon published in 1620. Bacon's work described many of the accepted principles, underscoring the importance of theory, empirical results, data gathering, experiment, and independent corroboration. The word theory has many distinct meanings in different fields of Knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion.
- Bauer, Henry H., Scientific Literacy and the Myth of the Scientific Method, University of Illinois Press, Champaign, IL, 1992
- Beveridge, William I. Henry H Bauer (born Austria 1931 is an emeritus professor of chemistry and science studies and emeritus dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Virginia Polytechnic Institute B. , The Art of Scientific Investigation, Vintage/Alfred A. Knopf, 1957.
- Bernstein, Richard J. , Beyond Objectivism and Relativism: Science, Hermeneutics, and Praxis, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, PA, 1983.
- Bozinovski, Stevo, Consequence Driven Systems: Teaching, Learning, and Self-Learning Agents, GOCMAR Publishers, Bitola, Macedonia, 1991.
- Brody, Baruch A. , and Grandy, Richard E. , Readings in the Philosophy of Science, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1989.
- Burks, Arthur W., Chance, Cause, Reason — An Inquiry into the Nature of Scientific Evidence, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1977. Arthur Walter Burks ( October 13 1915 – May 14, 2008) was an American Mathematician who in the 1940s as a senior
- Chomsky, Noam, Reflections on Language, Pantheon Books, New York, NY, 1975. Avram Noam Chomsky (noʊm ˈtʃɑmski born December 7 1928 is an American linguist, Philosopher, cognitive scientist, Political
- Dewey, John, How We Think, D. John Dewey (October 20 1859 &ndash June 1 1952 was an American Philosopher, Psychologist, and educational reformer, whose thoughts and ideas have C. Heath, Lexington, MA, 1910. Reprinted, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY, 1991. Prometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co- founded Committee for
- Earman, John (ed. John Earman (born 1942 is a philosopher of physics. He is currently a professor in the History and Philosophy of Science department at the University of Pittsburgh ), Inference, Explanation, and Other Frustrations: Essays in the Philosophy of Science, University of California Press, Berkeley & Los Angeles, CA, 1992.
- Fraassen, Bas C. van, The Scientific Image, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1980. Bastiaan Cornelis van Fraassen (born Goes, the Netherlands, 5 April 1941) is a member of the Princeton University Philosophy
- Feyerabend, Paul K., Against Method, Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge, 1st published, 1975. Paul Karl Feyerabend ( January 13, 1924 – February 11, 1994) was an Austrian born Philosopher of science best known for Reprinted, Verso, London, UK, 1978.
- Gadamer, Hans-Georg, Reason in the Age of Science, Frederick G. Hans-Georg Gadamer (ˈgaːdamɐ February 11, 1900 &ndash March 13, 2002) was a German Philosopher of the continental Lawrence (trans. ), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1981.
- Giere, Ronald N. (ed. ), Cognitive Models of Science, vol. 15 in 'Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science', University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 1992.
- Hacking, Ian, Representing and Intervening, Introductory Topics in the Philosophy of Natural Science, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1983. Ian Hacking, CC, PhD, FRSC, FBA (born February 18, 1936 in Vancouver) is a Canadian university
- Heisenberg, Werner, Physics and Beyond, Encounters and Conversations, A. Werner Heisenberg (5 December 1901 in Würzburg &ndash1 February 1976 in Munich) was a German theoretical physicist best known for enunciating the J. Pomerans (trans. ), Harper and Row, New York, NY 1971, pp. 63–64.
- Holton, Gerald, Thematic Origins of Scientific Thought, Kepler to Einstein, 1st edition 1973, revised edition, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1988. Gerald Holton is Mallinckrodt Research Professor of Physics and Research Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University.
- Jevons, William Stanley, The Principles of Science: A Treatise on Logic and Scientific Method, 1874, 1877, 1879. William Stanley Jevons ( September 1, 1835 - August 13, 1882) English Economist and Logician, was born in Reprinted with a foreword by Ernst Nagel, Dover Publications, New York, NY, 1958. Ernest Nagel ( November 16, 1901 &mdash September 22, 1985) was among the most important philosophers of science of his time
- Kuhn, Thomas S., "The Function of Measurement in Modern Physical Science", ISIS 52(2), 161–193, 1961. Thomas Samuel Kuhn (surname ˈkuːn July 18, 1922 &ndash June 17, 1996) was an American intellectual who wrote extensively
- Kuhn, Thomas S. , The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1962. 2nd edition 1970. 3rd edition 1996.
- Kuhn, Thomas S. , The Essential Tension, Selected Studies in Scientific Tradition and Change, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1977.
- Latour, Bruno, Science in Action, How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1987. Bruno Latour (born June 22, 1947, Beaune, France) is a French sociologist of science, anthrophologist and
- Losee, John, A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1972. 2nd edition, 1980.
- Maxwell, Nicholas, The Comprehensibility of the Universe: A New Conception of Science, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998. Nicholas Maxwell (born 1937 is a Philosopher who has devoted much of his working life to arguing that there is an urgent need to bring about a revolution in Academia Paperback 2003.
- McComas, William F., ed. Userpolbot from http//bioguidecongressgov/scripts/biodisplaypl?index=M000352 The Principal Elements of the Nature of Science: Dispelling the MythsPDF (189 KiB), from The Nature of Science in Science Education, pp53-70, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands 1998. A kibibyte (a contraction of ki lo bi nary byte) is a unit of Information or Computer storage, established by the International
- Mill, John Stuart, "A System of Logic", University Press of the Pacific, Honolulu, 2002, ISBN 1-4102-0252-6. John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 &ndash 8 May 1873 British Philosopher, political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an influential
- Misak, Cheryl J. , Truth and the End of Inquiry, A Peircean Account of Truth, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1991.
- Newell, Allen, Unified Theories of Cognition, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1990. Allen Newell ( March 19, 1927 - July 19, 1992) was a researcher in Computer science and Cognitive psychology at the
- Peirce, C.S., Essays in the Philosophy of Science, Vincent Tomas (ed. Charles Sanders Peirce (pronounced purse) (September 10 1839 &ndash April 19 1914 was an American Logician mathematician, philosopher ), Bobbs–Merrill, New York, NY, 1957.
- Peirce, C.S., "Lectures on Pragmatism", Cambridge, MA, March 26 – May 17, 1903. Charles Sanders Peirce (pronounced purse) (September 10 1839 &ndash April 19 1914 was an American Logician mathematician, philosopher Reprinted in part, Collected Papers, CP 5. 14–212. Reprinted with Introduction and Commentary, Patricia Ann Turisi (ed. ), Pragmatism as a Principle and a Method of Right Thinking: The 1903 Harvard "Lectures on Pragmatism", State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, 1997. Reprinted, pp. 133–241, Peirce Edition Project (eds. ), The Essential Peirce, Selected Philosophical Writings, Volume 2 (1893–1913), Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN, 1998.
- Peirce, C.S., Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce, vols. Charles Sanders Peirce (pronounced purse) (September 10 1839 &ndash April 19 1914 was an American Logician mathematician, philosopher 1-6, Charles Hartshorne and Paul Weiss (eds. Charles Hartshorne ( June 5, 1897 &ndash October 9, 2000) was a prominent American philosopher who concentrated primarily on the Philosophy Paul Weiss ( May 19, 1901 – July 5, 2002) was an American philosopher, known for his work in Metaphysics ), vols. 7-8, Arthur W. Burks (ed. Arthur Walter Burks ( October 13 1915 – May 14, 2008) was an American Mathematician who in the 1940s as a senior ), Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1931-1935, 1958. Cited as CP vol. para.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo (ed. ), Language and Learning, The Debate between Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1980.
- Poincaré, Henri, Science and Hypothesis, 1905, Eprint
- Popper, Karl R., The Logic of Scientific Discovery, 1934, 1959. Jules Henri Poincaré ( 29 April 1854 &ndash 17 July 1912) (ˈʒyl ɑ̃ˈʁi pwɛ̃kaˈʁe was a French Mathematician Sir Karl Raimund Popper ( July 28 1902 &ndash September 17 1994) was an Austrian and British Philosopher and a professor [4]
- Popper, Karl R., Unended Quest, An Intellectual Autobiography, Open Court, La Salle, IL, 1982. Sir Karl Raimund Popper ( July 28 1902 &ndash September 17 1994) was an Austrian and British Philosopher and a professor
- Putnam, Hilary, Renewing Philosophy, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1992. Hilary Whitehall Putnam (born July 31 1926 is an American Philosopher who has been a central figure in Western philosophy since the 1960s especially in Philosophy
- Rorty, Richard, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1979. Richard McKay Rorty (October 4 1931 - June 8 2007 was an American Philosopher.
- Salmon, Wesley C., Four Decades of Scientific Explanation, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 1990. Wesley C Salmon (1925&ndash April 22 2001) was a contemporary philosopher concerned primarily with the topics of Causation and Explanation
- Shimony, Abner, Search for a Naturalistic World View: Vol. Abner Shimony (born 1928 Columbus Ohio) is an American physicist and philosopher of science specializing in quantum theory. 1, Scientific Method and Epistemology, Vol. 2, Natural Science and Metaphysics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1993.
- Thagard, Paul, Conceptual Revolutions, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1992. Paul Thagard is Professor of Philosophy, with cross appointment to Psychology and Computer Science, and Director of the Cognitive Science Program at the
- Ziman, John (2000). John Michael Ziman ( May 16, 1925 - January 2, 2005) was a Physicist and a humanist who worked in the area of Condensed Real Science: what it is, and what it means. Cambridge, Uk: Cambridge University Press.
External links
- An Introduction to Science: Scientific Thinking and a scientific method by Steven D. Schafersman.
- Introduction to a scientific method
- Theory-ladenness by Paul Newall at The Galilean Library
- Lecture on Scientific Method by Greg Anderson
- Using the scientific method for designing science fair projects
- SCIENTIFIC METHODS an online book by Richard D. Jarrard
Dictionary
scientific method
-noun
- (sciences) A method of discovering knowledge about the natural world based in making falsifiable predictions (hypotheses), testing them empirically, and developing peer-reviewed theories that best explain the known data.
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic