Introduction to the Scientific Method

The following article was adapted from the Albany Student Press.  

     Religion and science were formally inseparable. The natural phenomenon observed by our ancient ancestors were ascribed to the various activities of the gods.  Thunderstorms became the echos of divine battles, floods examples of god's wrath, dreams were the means by which man had contact with the supernatural.  Religion, for most of humanity's existence, was science. Ancient mythology were scientific text books and the beliefs which lay within these often sordid stories were not just ‘morality' tales but were tools of explanation.

      Yet the supernatural became an increasingly unsatisfactory response to the very real questions which have plagued our species since the dawn of civilization.  The Egyptians needed to predict the annual floods of the Nile; accurate mathematical calculations were crucial to ensure that appropriate food supplies were gathered and stored; injuries and deadly illnesses necessitated the medical practice to develop methods which could be relied upon and repeated with precision.

      These questions and others forced our ancestors to adopt new techniques in order to deal with the rapidly changing world they found themselves in. And so arose the empirical philosophers of the ancient world who sought after natural explanations for observed occurrences; the first scientists.  As early as 1,600 B.C.E., for instance, the Egyptians had begun to develop a science of medicine which relied upon experimentation and physical observation. The sun god Ra, they hypothesized, was probably not responsible for the spear in your back.

     The scientific method which we know today describes a way of obtaining knowledge that is based on observation, repetition, transparency and correction.  Thousands of years of trial and error have gotten us to a refined technique of critiquing and improving upon theories which are used to explain the world we live in.

     The basic formulation of the scientific method is as follows: observation, measurement and experimentation leading to the formulation, testing and modification of the hypothesis (Oxford English Dictionary).  As the ancient Egyptians saw, there is likely a better explanation for physical ailments than imaginary deities. The scientific method has given us all the technological advancements which have made possible everything from advanced communications to atomic weapons, precise surgical techniques and genetically modified food.

      The scientific method, as a means of determining the true nature of the environment in which we find ourselves, can be observed at work in the medieval world as it became apparent that the sun is indeed the center of the solar system.  Copernicus applied the scientific method when he tested the hypothesis, found it to be inaccurate and then published his findings for review.

      Further scientific investigation has supported his initial theory, and while we have had to tweak his findings, we are relatively certain that Earth does in fact revolve around the sun (of course, the scientific community remains open to further evidence – that's the whole point).  The scientific method is a way to establish relative certainty about the nature of ‘things.'

   

• Before the scientific method, how did our ancestors answer questions about the natural world?
• What "new technique" arose to help our ancestors deal with their rapidly changing world?
• What is the purpose of the scientific method?
• Why is it important that the scientific community remains open to further evidence of Copernicus' findings?