Scientific method: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:34, 22 December 2004

Revision as of 22:58, 22 December 2004

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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, but thethere is no such distinction isin oftenin ignoredmany applications in which these words are used in our everyday life, such as the sale of goods by weight. (Precise meanings are also important in that field, and using the physics jargon meaning of "weight" in connection with commerce is incorrect.)

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.