Scientific method: Difference between revisions

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The scientific method depends upon the careful characterization of the subject of the investigation.

[[Observation]] demands careful ''[[measurement]]'' and the use of ''[[operational definition]]s'' of relevant concepts. When the terms used are formally defining, they acquire exact meanings which do not necessarily correspond with their use in [[natural language]]: for example, ''[[mass]]'' and ''[[weight]]'' are quite distinct concepts. On the surface of the [[Earth]], the distinction may not be obvious, (except perhaps for those who study [[gravitation]] and like fieldsbut in [[physics]]). In [[orbit]] around [[Earth]], we are weightless, butand not massless.

New theories may arise when it is realised that words used have not previously been clearly defined. For example, [[Albert Einstein|Albert Einstein's]] first paper on [[relativity]] begins by defining [[simultaneity]] and the means for determining [[length]] (which were skipped over by [[Isaac Newton]] with "I do not define [[time]], space, place and [[motion]], as being well known to all") and proceeds to demonstrate that, given these definitions, certain widely accepted ideas (absolute time; length independent of motion) were invalid.