Where Science Comes From

Where Science Comes From

(or, whence Science Cometh…)

www.chass.utoronto.ca/~swalton/200sci.html

www.chass.utoronto.ca/~swalton/HPS200/200sci.html

New Scientific Concepts can arise from Experiments (extension)

From systematic experiments/observations

From difficulties inherent in old concepts

From accidental discoveries

From closer and closer approximations of older concepts

From an observation of technology

Controlled Experiments result in Significant Observations (confirmation)

What is controlled in the experiment? (variables)

Are results unambiguous? (alternate hypotheses)

Are the values accurate? (measurement)

Are the identifications faulty? (error)

New Techniques arise from Experiments (tools)

Techniques (or apparatus) may be revolutionary

Techniques are refined over time within existing apparatus

New techniques enter science from the practical arts

New techniques are specifically created to examine new concepts

New techniques may arise by accident

Caveats

Well-established ideas may be barriers to new ones

Facts must "fit" the times ("orphaned ideas")

Scientists need to distinguish between new concepts and explanations (what is the theory?)