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The Exciting Development of Scientific Inquiry

Any child who's participated in a science fair will tell you "The Scientific Method" involves coming up with a hypothesis and performing experiments to test that hypothesis. The process forms the basis for much of today's science education and few would argue its merits, but is "The Scientific Method" the be all and end all of scientific inquiry as we know it?

Far from it, although many students, even at the college level, "talk about THE scientific method as if it were a sort of timeless and unchanged technique that always has existed and always will exist," says Steven J. Livesey, professor and department chair of the Department of the History of Science at the University of Oklahoma. Those students are surprised to learn, Livesey adds, "that the method in use by scientists today probably has not been around as long as the one it replaced."

We've Come A Long Way, Aristotle
In fact, "the one it replaced," which is commonly attributed to Aristotle, was based on several assumptions no longer considered valid. Aristotle began with general, unproveable principles of nature, for example, and from those "first principles" or "causes" attempted to prove other natural occurrences. For him, says Livesey, science was "essentially eternal and unchanging." Modern scientists "could never hope for an eternal and unchanged conclusion in science," Livesey notes. "That's not even the way we think of science any longer. It's constantly developing."

Other major shifts have occurred as well. Today scientists often modify natural conditions, creating a frictionless plane, for example, to measure velocity. But Aristotle believed that to investigate nature, Livesey says, "nature has to be fully engaged, not some sort of restricted form of nature." Aristotle also was emphatic about enforcing disciplinary boundaries. "In other words," Livesey explains, he believed "you can't use the principles from one discipline to prove something in another." Modern scientists cross those boundaries all the time. "We do that when we use physical principles in bioengineering or when we use mathematics to make physical or biological things more precise," says Livesey. "That, of course, is something Aristotle would have found problematic."

One Size Doesn't Fit All
While the hypothesis-experimentation-results method taught at schools and science fairs across the nation is widely used by scientists today, it's important to note that it's not the only method of inquiry they employ.

In some disciplines, such as anthropology and zoology, observation trumps experimentation as the main method of inquiry. In others, such as quantum physics, experimentation as we know it isn't even possible. Instead, physicists often engage in "thought experiments" to determine the validity of their hypotheses. "Essentially," says Livesey, "it's all done between one's ears." When Einstein was working on the theory of relativity, for example, he couldn't perform experiments with particles traveling at or near the speed of light. Instead, he considered the known principles of physics and applied them -- mainly in his head -- to the questions at hand.

But even as techniques vary, there are constants across disciplines. Results must be objective; data should be made available to other scientists for examination and validation; and results must hold up under repeated experimentation and study. Every science fair participant can tell you that!

So is "the scientific method" kids learn about in school a valid path of inquiry? Absolutely! It's just not the only valid path. "My colleagues and I tend to say that this is A method of science," says Livesey, "but it's not necessarily THE scientific method. We try to provide an additional nuance about the fact that method is not so monolithic."

Why Look Back?
Clearly science has undergone dramatic changes in the past several centuries, but as we continue to move forward, does it matter if we learn about our scientific past? Livesey believes it does. "Part of it is just to reflect on where we have been," he says, "because in some respects you don't see problems with your current state of things if you are myopically focused on just the present." History also informs us about cultural differences, he adds, which continue to influence ethical decisions about scientific inquiry in controversial areas such as stem cell research. "It's the same kind of cultural distinctions one can find in previous historical periods," Livesey says. "I think there is some value to that just for the perspective it provides."

And even with the drastic shifts in scientific methodologies since the time of Aristotle and his predecessors, "there is continuity," says Livesey. "There are similarities between an earlier form of science and the kind of science we do today, but we have expanded the kinds of scientific techniques we use to allow us to do things that Aristotle's techniques simply didn't facilitate."

Need another reason to explore the history of science? It's fascinating! How did Einstein conduct his thought experiments? What methods did Darwin employ to develop his theory of natural selection? How did Copernicus figure out that the Earth wasn't the center of the universe, and how did his contemporaries react to his radical assertions? Science is far from a stagnant set of facts and principles. It's a dynamic world of exploration and imagination in which there's always something new to ask and discover. The more you learn about the history of science, the more you'll realize you can be an important part of it!

Extending the Exploration
In the spirit of exploring the fascinating history of science, Thames and Kosmos has announced the launch of a new kit, Milestones in Science, which takes young scientists on a journey of discovery that spans "the 100 most significant experiments and discoveries of all time." From Archimedes and Copernicus to Einstein, Watt, and Darwin, the kit introduces students to over 140 great scientists and civilizations and allows them to reproduce history's ground-breaking experiments. From the Stone Age to modern times, this comprehensive kit brings the history of science to life before your eyes!

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