The Birth of Modern Science: Methods and Origins
Origins of Modern Science
The origin of science—the starry sky, the movement of the Sun, Moon, and planets—prompted many questions among the first civilizations. Science arose when human beings had the conviction that natural phenomena could be integrated into an orderly and coherent system. In the 6th century BC, a new way of addressing issues such as the creation and origin of the universe was born in Greece. These thinkers sought plausible and rational answers and made use of observation. Science and philosophy arose from a critical and inquiring attitude about reality and, initially, were indistinguishable disciplines. Science became independent from philosophy and began developing its own methods during a period which is precisely why it is called the Scientific Revolution. It includes the 16th and 17th centuries.
Galileo: The First Modern Scientist
Galileo is considered the first modern scientist. He dealt with the same problems that had interested people engaged in science before, but he did so in a radically different and revolutionary way.
Features:
- Experimentation: He introduced an important novelty in the conception of the scientific method. He was aware that some of his assumptions were not observable in everyday life, so he could only contrast them by creating an ideal situation.
- Mathematization: He unequivocally affirmed that nature behaves according to regularities expressed by mathematical functions.
The Inductive Method
The inductive method consists of drawing a general conclusion from specific data or individuals. After seeing what happens in a large number of cases, we believe that the same thing always happens to all those of the same type.
Advantages:
- Provides applicable principles or laws.
Problems:
- It is questionable whether the scientific procedure begins with observation with a concrete, preconceived idea of what one is looking for.
- The validity or reliability of the principles reached is also questionable.
Criticism:
- Observation of a feature in a series of individual cases does not permit a conclusion valid for all possible cases.
- Past experience does not guarantee that the same thing will keep happening in the future.
- We believe that the future will be conformable to the past, but we cannot know or prove it.
The Hypothetico-Deductive Method
A method that renounces the rigor of deduction and induction, and embraces experimentation (used by physics since Galileo). It is composed of the following phases:
- Observation: This observation may be of a phenomenon caused by the scientist or a naturally occurring one. In the second case, it is experimentation.
- Formulation of the Hypothesis: The hypothesis is a tentative explanation of the phenomenon, that is, a provisional formulation of the law governing it. It serves to direct the work of the scientist and allows them to organize their observations. For a viable hypothesis, it must meet certain conditions:
- It must be suggested by the observed facts.
- It must be coherent, i.e., not lead to contradictions.
- It must be verifiable, i.e., capable of being verified empirically.
- It should be as simple as possible.
- Hypothesis Testing: Once formulated, the hypothesis must be tested and verified to go from a provisional state to a final law. This is done by establishing predictions of what will happen if the hypothesis is true and correct.
- Formulation of the Law: Once the hypothesis has been verified, it passes to the status of a scientific law.
- Mathematization of the Law: In the experimental sciences, laws tend to be formulated mathematically.