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List of topics (scientific method)

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Table of contents
1 The scientific method
2 Departures from method
3 Annotated list of related issues
4 What made the Scientific Method succeed?
5 Why didn't the Scientific Method arise elsewhere?
6 Relationship to Techology
7 See Also

The scientific method

Roger Bacon -- thirteenth century --Francis Bacon's New Organon

interpretations of the scientific method -- science -- philosophy of science-- history of science -- sociology of knowledge -- process --knowledge

Observation

-- methods -- causation -- investigation --

measurement -- solar day vs sidereal day. mass vs weight

Hypothesis

Use Occam's Razor to prune the list of hypothetical explanations of the observation.-- pro:Karl Popper Falsifiability -- con:Paul Feyerabend -- statistical hypothesis testing

Prediction

A prediction is a logical inference from the hypothesis -- Bayesian inference is subjective use of statistical reasoning -- Deductive reasoning

Experiment

Feynman: "We can do anything we want (in theorizing). Then all we have to do is check with the experiment." Design of experiments -- placebo effect --

Evaluation

Test of the inference: prediction and experimentation to establish new facts. Critical examination of the hypothetical explantion: peer review by community of scholars, using Logic etc. The wave theory of light overturned by photoelectric effect. Peer review unused for cold fusion.

Departures from method

Michael Polanyi elegant beautiful Occam's Razor.

Ptolemaic system Nicolaus Copernicus Tycho Brahe Kepler Isaac Newton Galileo model

Annotated list of related issues

Empirical methods

Paradigm change The problem of induction questions the logical basis of scientific statements. Scientific creativity When Method goes wrong Critique of Scientific Method Use of statistics

What made the Scientific Method succeed?

Why didn't the Scientific Method arise elsewhere?

Relationship to Techology

Technology is subordinate to Science; Scientific discovery rests on technology.

See Also

Epistemology physical law -- Science policy -- Scientific Revolution -- Sociology of knowledge -- Science studies -- Conflicting theories