Where the need came from
The need for the Scientific Method developed largely due to the extensive amounts of bias and prejudice in the current teaches of science and fact. It also came from the need for a standardised form of scientific testing, so anyone, anywhere, could analyse and prove something. Another main reason was to eliminate human error in testing.
The Development of the Idea
The Early History
To fully comprehend the idea, we have to go way back to about 300 B.C.E., with Aristotle and the Greeks. They had a system which used inductive and deductive reasoning to come about truths, and is considered the first form of the scientific method. The next development of the scientific method came in the middle ages. An inductive-experiment based method was used by Islamic and Muslim scientists, which was similar to the Greek's method, but was closer to what we have today. The final part of it's early development was the Renaissance, largely with Roger Bacon. Bacon spoke of a repeating cycle of observation, hypothesis and experimentation. He also called for the need for verification of fact and for experiments to be recorded in immense detail to allow for others to recreate your experiments and results.
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The Enlightenment
Two main figures in the Enlightenment aspect of the Scientific Method are René Descartes and Francis Bacon. Bacon believed induction was extremely important to the scientific method, that observation and analysis were the most important parts. On the contrary, Descartes believed that the universe was based upon laws, and once you knew the laws, you could predict how something would act.
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What Came After
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The Scientific Method today is the combination of the two thoughts; it includes both inductive and deductive reasoning. From having this scientific method, we were then able to develop scientific theories and laws. These theories and laws are well explained in this video if you would like to know more. The cycle goes something like: hypothesis --> theory --> law. Although, theories don't often end as laws.
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