The+invention+of+the+Scientific+Method


 * 384-322 BCE || Aristotle devised methods for trying to arrive at reliable knowledge based on observation. ||
 * 1214–1294 || Roger Bacon described a repeating cycle of observation, hypothesis, experimentation, and verification through drawing on the findings of Muslim Scientists ||
 * 1622 || Francis Bacon explained his method in Novum Organum, published in 1622. He is very widely mentioned in the literature for his contribution to the scientific method. ||
 * 1637 || Descartes's treatise Discourse on Method is well-known and was also a contribution to the development of the scientific method. ||
 * 1638 || Galileo's Two New Sciences published, containing two thought experiments, namely Galileo's Leaning Tower of Pisa experiment and Galileo's ship, which are intended to disprove existing physical theories by showing that they have contradictory consequences. ||
 * 1687 || Outlining his four "rules of reasoning" in Principia, Issac Newton sets the direction in which scientific method would develop in favor of Bacon 's empirical approach. Following the above developers of the scientific method, many philosophers, scientists, psychologists, and others have contributed to the development of a theory of the scientific method as we know it today. ||

 __Who were the people involved?__ Galileo, who practiced the scientific method Francis Bacon, an English lawyer and lord chancellor Rene Descartes, a Frenchman Issac Newton, who completed the process of developing early scientific method.  __Brief biographical write-up__

Galileo Galilei: Galileo was born in Pisa,Italy, At the age of 8, his family moved to Florence, but he was left with Jacopo Borghini for two years. He then was educated in the Camaldolese Monastery. He enrolled for a medical degree at the University of Pisa at his father's urging. He did not complete this degree, but instead studied mathematics. In 1589, he was appointed to the chair of mathematics in Pisa. In 1591 his father died and he was entrusted with the care of his younger brother. In 1592, he moved to the University of Padua, teaching geometry, mechanics, and astronomy until 1610. During this period Galileo made significant discoveries in both pure science and applied science. His multiple interests included the study of astrology. In 1610 Galileo published an account of his telescopic observations of the moons of Jupiter, using this observation to argue in favour of the sun-centered, Copernican theory of the universe against the dominant earth-centered Ptolemaic and Aristotelian theories. The next year Galileo visited Rome in order to demonstrate his telescope to the influential philosophers and mathematicians of the Jesuit Collegio Romano, and to let them see with their own eyes the reality of the four moons of Jupiter. In 1612, opposition arose to the Sun-centered theory of the universe which Galileo supported. In 1614, Galileo's opinions on the motion of the Earth were denounced by Father Tommaso Caccini, and were judged to be dangerous and close to heresy. Galileo went to Rome to defend himself against these accusations, but, in 1616, Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino personally handed Galileo an admonition enjoining him neither to advocate nor teach Copernican astronomy. During 1621 and 1622 Galileo wrote his first book, The Assayer , which was approved and published in 1623. In 1630, he returned to Rome to apply for a licence to print the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems , published in Florence in 1632. In October of that year, however, he was ordered to appear before the Holy Office in Rome. Following a papal trial in which he was found suspect of heresy, Galileo was placed under house arrest and his movements restricted by the Pope.  Francis Bacon: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bacon was born on 22 January at York House near the Strand in London. Biographers believe that Bacon was educated at home in his early years owing to poor health. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, on 5 April 1573 at the age of twelve, living for three years there together with his older brother Anthony. Bacon's education was conducted largely in Latin and followed the medieval curriculum. He was also educated at the University of Poitiers <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">His studies brought him to the belief that the methods and results of science as then practiced were erroneous. His reverence for Aristotle conflicted with his loathing of Aristotelian philosophy, which seemed to him barren, disputatious, and wrong in its objectives. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bacon's threefold goals were to uncover truth, to serve his country, and to serve his church. Seeking a prestigious post would aid him toward these ends. In 1580, through his uncle, Lord Burghley, he applied for a post at court, which might enable him to pursue a life of learning. His application failed. For two years he worked quietly at Gray's Inn, until admitted as an outer barrister in 1582. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In 1584, he took his seat in parliament for Melcombe in Dorset, and subsequently for Taunton (1586). At this time, he began to write on the condition of parties in the church, as well as philosophical reform in the lost tract, Temporis Partus Maximus. Yet, he failed to gain a position he thought would lead him to success. He showed signs of sympathy to Puritanism, attending the sermons of the Puritan chaplain of Gray's Inn and accompanying his mother to the Temple chapel to hear Walter Travers. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The accession of James I brought Bacon into greater favour. He was knighted in 1603 In 1613, Bacon was appointed attorney general, after advising the king to shuffle judicial appointments. The parliament of April 1614 objected to Bacon's presence in the seat for Cambridge and to the various royal plans which Bacon had supported. Although he was allowed to stay, parliament passed a law that forbade the attorney-general to sit in parliament. His influence over the king inspired resentment or apprehension in many of his peers. Bacon continued to receive the King's favour. In 1618, King James appointed Bacon to the position of Lord Chancellor. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He died on 9 April 1626, leaving personal assets of about £7,000 and lands that realised £6,000 when sold. His debts amounted to more than £23,000, an equivalent to over £3m at today's prices. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Rene Descartes: Descartes was born in La Haye en Touraine (now Descartes ), Indre-et-Loire, France. Around the age of eleven, he entered the Jesuit Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand at La Flèche. After graduation, he studied at the University of Poitiers, earning a Baccalauréat and Licence in law in 1616, in accordance with his father's wishes that he should become a lawyer. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On 10 November 1618, while walking through Breda, Descartes met Isaac Beeckman , who sparked his interest in mathematics and the new physics, particularly the problem of the fall of heavy bodies. In April 1629 he joined the University of Franeker and the next year, under the name "Poitevin", he enrolled at the Leiden University to study mathematics with Jacob Golius and astronomy with Martin Hortensius. In October 1630 he had a falling out with Beeckman, whom he accused of plagiarizing some of his ideas. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He wrote all his major work during his 20 plus years in the Netherlands, where he managed to revolutionize mathematics and philosophy. In 1633, Galileo was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, and Descartes abandoned plans to publish Treatise on the World , his work of the previous four years. "Discourse on the Method" was published in 1637. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In it Descartes lays out four rules of thought, meant to ensure that our knowledge rests upon a firm foundation. Descartes continued to publish works concerning both mathematics and philosophy for the rest of his life. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">René Descartes died on 11 February 1650 in Stockholm, Sweden , where he had been invited as a teacher for Queen Christina of Sweden. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In 1663, the Pope placed his works on the Index of Prohibited Books.



<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bacon's achievements:
Set an intellectual tone and helping create a climate conducive to scientific work <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">· <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Established and popularized an inductive methodology for scientific inquiry, often called the <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Baconian method, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">which was built on inductive principles. Rather than beginning with assumed first principles from which logical conclusions could be deduced, he urged scientists to proceed from the particular to the general. In his "Advancement of Learning", his method sought to banish the "idols of the mind", those habits of reason that blinded you to the evidence. He wrote ,"If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts, but he will content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties." The empirical approach was emphasized, f<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">rom carefully organized experiments and thorough, systematic observations, correct generalizations could be developed. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">· <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Believed that science had a practical purpose and its goal was the progress and improvement of human society <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">· <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Opened the way for eventual strong linkage between governments and the scientific enterprise

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Descarte’s achievements:
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Proposed a different approach to scientific methodology by emphasizing deduction and mathematical logic. He believed that one could start with self evident truths comparable to geometrical axioms and deduce more complex conclusions.
 * He relied on logical reasoning and rationality to explain natural causes since human senses could be biased
 * Proposed taking previous accepted notions and generalizations, dissect them further and study each components in particular detail and believed that
 * only when such facts are broken into smaller parts and subjected to close scrutiny and logic analysis can one arrive at the truth.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">· <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Descartes' rule of signs is also a commonly used method to determine the number of positive and negative roots of a polynomial. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">· <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Rene Descartes created analytic geometry, and discovered an early form of the law of conservation of momentum (the term momentum refers to the momentum of a force). <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">· <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Contributions to the field of optics: He showed by using geometric construction and the law of refraction that the angular radius of a rainbow is 42 degrees (i.e., the angle subtended at the eye by the edge of the rainbow and the ray passing from the sun through the rainbow's centre is 42°). <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">·
 * Both Bacon and Descartes decided that all previous beliefs (outside religion) had to be ignored.**

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Newton's achievements:
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">· <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Newton invented a scientific method which was truly universal in its scope. Newton presented his methodology as a set of four rules for scientific reasoning. These rules were stated in the <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Principia <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and proposed that (1) we are to admit no more causes of natural things such as are both true and sufficient to explain their appearances, (2) the same natural effects must be assigned to the same causes, (3) qualities of bodies are to be esteemed as universal, and (4) propositions deduced from observation of phenomena should be viewed as accurate until other phenomena contradict them. Newton himself was in a way, a practitioner of the scientific method. From "Physic, the discovery of Isaac Newton" wikispace page, we know about his great achievements. He had that great insight which cannot be distracted, that gift for isolating and eliminating each logical alternative, which makes the profound experimental (Bacon) as well as the theoretical scientist(Descartes) : which makes the profound mind.

__Significance and Importance of their achievements__
 <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bacon: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">His insistence on appealing to evidence influenced others whose methods were more productive (e.g Newton) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Linked science and material progrss in the public mind. This was a powerful idea and had made science and those who can appeal to the authority of science inspired for change and innovation. Thus, although not making any major scientific contribution himself, Bacon <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">directed investigators of nature to a new method and a new purpose. Descartes: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Descartes' theory provided the basis for the calculus of Newton and Leibniz, by applying infinitesimal calculus to the tangent line problem, thus permitting the evolution of that branch of modern mathematics. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One important influence was the first precept, which states, in Descartes words,"[To] never to accept anything for true which I did not clearly know to be such".  <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Ideas from both thinkers would contribute to the creation of the scientific method that we know today: § Observation (Baconian) § Hypothesis (not Baconian but carries some element of Cartesian method) § Prediction (Cartesian) § Experiment (Baconian) § Collect data and interpret based on generalizing (Baconian) and/or inferring (Descartes) § Conclusion, ie prove or disprove hypothesis

Newton: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Isaac Newton <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">could be considered the one who completed the process of developing early scientific method. Newton put together Bacon's empiricism which stresses on generating laws by inductive arguing from experience and Descartes' rationalism which stresses on deducing new ideas from things known through mathematic logic and approach. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In this way, his success set the direction in which scientific method would develop. Significance and importance of scientific methods and the people involved Scientific method: The background of the arising of scientific method: Scientific discoveries and astronomy were developed rapidly. However, the changes were haphazard and loosely related (which I don't quite understand why it is). There was a need of a common set of organizing philosophy, thinking process and method of doing scientific study. Therefore, Bacon and Newton rethought and generalized the standards of practice, the correct way to prove a theory and the logic sequence of doing research. Another interesting thing regarding their background information is that both Bacon and Descartes are from northwestern Europe, which is the practice of new sciences in the scientific revolution concentrated in. The significance and the people involved Both men believed they lived in a new age of profound change and great opportunities for discovery. Both also believed that the old ideas and theories no longer met the needs of the time and should be discarde. What Bacon promoted shows his idea that we should come directly to grips with nature, its mysteries and gain knowledge through senses, piece by piece. We can arrive at truth by a huge number of evidence. Bacon emphasized on the usefulness of the knowledge. It would refine the skills and technology, ultimately giving humanity command over nature. His idea is evoked vividly by two images. One is the cover of his Novum Organum which we had seen in class. Another one is his description of “Solomon’s House”, a utopian factory of discovery that would turn out useful knowledge. Descartes agreed with him on 2 points. One is that all past knowledge should be discarded. The second one was that the value of the knowledge idea depended on its usefulness. However, Descartes offered a completely new method which emphasized on mathematics and deduction. His idea of speculation and doubting began when he submitted all knowledge and ideas to process of systematic doubt. Descartes’ method was influential because his promotion of using mathematics as a tool for natural philosophers which was also good for empiricism since the numerical measurement was the key to empiricism. Also, he provided a logical underpinning for a purely mechanistic view of the world. He concluded that every kind of creature is a machine and without exception, human is also a kind of machine with minds. Thus, everything should follow the physical law. Through this assumption, I also think that it abstracts mechanism from theology because in old days people thought that everything was a self-operating machine propelled by a force that followed from the original motion given by God. Also, his systematic doubting contributed a lot to the discrediting of all the faulty science of the ancients. It was not until a century after Bacon and Descartes, two kinds of method were finally combined together. Before this, England’s natural philosophers were Baconian while their contemporary was mostly Cartesian. Besides his unique characteristics, there is another thing I found quite interesting about Newton. He was said to be a secret Antitrinitarian. Back to the topic, Newton’s work was a mix of different theories, but he brought to it an extraordinary mind and an unmatched command of mathematics. He shared the Cartesian’s belief in the power of math, but he disliked the dry logic. He also disagreed with their indifference to studying the behavior of objects in nature. On the other hand, if he lacked the tools to do his experiments properly, he would build his own. He improved ordinary prism in order to understand the nature of the light and color which helped him realize that each “color” of light was a component of white light and the colors came into focus at different distances. Based on the new prisms, he proved his by splitting and recombining white light between two prisms and found a new lens for telescope which provided a clearer image. When he studied on the problem of orbits, Newton created the first form of calculus for the need of describing heavenly objects moving. His masterpiece, “Principia Mathematica” also showed his combining method of Bacon and Descartes. He not only used enough geometric proofs, but also provided powerful and sufficient observations from everyday life. What’s more, once he became involved with a very complicated problem, he would dismantle the larger question into its component parts and studied them to exhaustion. This idea also greatly helped today’s scientists’ studies in many field. To sum up, the scientific method standardized the thinking process and laid the foundation of modern sciences. It also helped scientists to get more reliable data and ways of solving problems. It focused people’s attention on mechanism and made them realize there was a lot more to learn about sciences.

Question 1: What was their problem?
Bacon: His method was disorganised and haphazard as compared to Descartes' systematic approach. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Descartes: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He stressed Mathematics in science, but seemed to allow little room for testing ideas in the real world.  t is also important to recognize that while experiment may play a somewhat more restricted role in Descartes’ enterprise than it does in Bacon’s, Descartes considered experiment crucial to the advance of his own program as well. Experiment appears prominently in his celebrated account of the rainbow in Discourse 8 of the Meteores, a discussion that he points to as a paradigm of the method of the Discours; there Descartes appeals to experiments done with prisms and flasks of water to support his conclusions about the cause of the rainbow. Bacon: the overreliance on experiments and the idea of generalizing from observation and daily experience seems a little inconvincible. Just like what Descartes said, for all the importance of observation and experiment, people can deceived by their senses. Also, the generalization may be a unqualified generalization and cannot answer the essence of the question. Descartes: The idea of doubting everything can’t produce any useful knowledge which has practical use. The stress on mathematical proof can sometimes idealize the situation and lead to wrong conclusions.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Quesion 2. Were there others??
The Scientific method started as early as during Aristotles' time. Aristotle introduced what may be called a scientific method. He provided another of the ingredients of scientific tradition: empiricism. For Aristotle, universal truths can be known from particular things via induction. Aristotle considers sense-perception only as a vehicle for knowledge through intuition. Induction is not afforded the status of scientific reasoning, and so it is left to intuition to provide a solid foundation for Aristotle’s science. Others before Bacon and Descartes's time also contributed to the scientific method, such as, Ibn al-Haytham, Al-Biruni, Robert Grosseteste and Roger Bacon. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Some of the most important debates in the history of scientific method center on: <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|rationalism] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, especially as advocated by <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|René Descartes] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; inductivism, which rose to particular prominence with <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|Isaac Newton] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> and his followers; and <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|hypothetico-deductivism] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, which came to the fore in the early 19th century. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a debate over <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|realism] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> vs. <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|antirealism] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> was central to discussions of scientific method as powerful scientific theories extended beyond the realm of the observable, while in the mid-20th century some prominent philosophers argued against any universal rules of science at all. Here are some introduction about other scientific methods. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Aristotle's philosophy involved both inductive and deductive reasoning.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Aristotle introduced what may be called a scientific method. [|[6]]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> He provided another of the ingredients of scientific tradition: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">empirisicm. For Aristotle, universal truths can be known from particular things via induction. To some extent then, Aristotle reconciles abstract thought with observation, although it would be misleading to imply that Aristotelian science is empirical in form. Indeed, Aristotle did not accept that knowledge acquired by induction could rightly be counted as scientific knowledge. Nevertheless, induction was a necessary preliminary to the main business of scientific enquiry, providing the primary premises required for scientific demonstrations. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Aristotle largely ignored inductive reasoning in his treatment of scientific enquiry. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Ibn al-Haytham was the man who first created the experimental scientific methods. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> used experimentation <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|and mathematics] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> to obtain the results in his //Book of Optics// (1021). [|[11]]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> In particular, he combined <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|observations] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|experiments] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> and <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|rational] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> arguments to support his intromission theory of <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|vision] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, where <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|rays] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> of <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|light] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> are emitted from objects rather than from the eyes. used experimentation <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|and mathematics] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> to obtain the results in his [|//Book of Optics//]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> (1021). In particular, he combined <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|observations] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|experiments] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> and <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|rational] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> arguments to support his intromission theory of <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|vision] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, where <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|rays] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> of <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|light] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> are emitted from objects rather than from the eyes. Ibn al-Haytham's scientific method was similar to the modern scientific method and consisted of the following procedures: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">An aspect associated with Ibn al-Haytham's optical research is related to systemic and methodological reliance on experimentation (//i'tibar//) and controlled testing in his scientific inquiries. Moreover, his experimental directives rested on combining classical physics ('//ilm tabi'i//) with mathematics (//ta'alim//; geometry in particular) in terms of devising the rudiments of what may be designated as a <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|hypothetico-deductive procedure] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> in scientific research. This mathematical-physical approach to experimental science supported most of his propositions in his //Book of Optics// and grounded his theories of vision, light and colour, as well as his research in catoptrics and dioptrics. His legacy was further advanced through the 'reforming' of his //Optics// by <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|Kamal al-Din al-Farisi] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> (d. ca. 1320) in the latter's //Kitab Tanqih al-Manazir// (//The Revision of// [Ibn al-Haytham's] //Optics//). Ibn al-Haytham also employed <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|scientific skepticism] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> and emphasized the role of <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|empiricism] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. He also explained the role of <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|induction] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> in <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|syllogism] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, and criticized <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|Aristotle] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> for his lack of contribution to the method of induction, which Ibn al-Haytham regarded as superior to syllogism, and he considered induction to be the basic requirement for true scientific research. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The concept of <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|Ockam's razor] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> is also present in the //Book of Optics//. For example, after demonstrating that light is generated by luminous objects and emitted or reflected into the eyes, he states that therefore "the extramission of [visual] rays is superfluous and useless." He was also the first scientist to adopt a form of positivism in his approach, centuries before a term for positivism was coined. The only properties of light he takes into account are that which can be treated by geometry and verified by experiment
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Explicit statement of a <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|problem] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, tied to <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|observation] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> and to proof by <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|experiment] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Testing and/or criticism of a <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|hypothesis] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> using <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|experimentation] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Interpretation of <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|data] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> and formulation of a conclusion using <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|mathematics] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|publication] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> of the findings

=== <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Question 3: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">How did the new discoveries change the world? ===

 ====If the new discoveries refer to the scientific method, I think they laid the foundation of the modern science and standardised the procedure of scientific research. It provided us with more reliable data and phenomena which could help us really understand, get to know the essence of the problem and make more discoveries. Besides this, it set up a positive image about science which was provable, convincible and interesting. It made more people become interested in science and devote themselves into the study of science.==== Zera: Do you mean how the Scientific Method changed the world? I think they acted as a standard for experimentation to be carried out such that through systematic experiments, accurate conclusions could be drawn from reliable experiments. Also, from experimentation, inaccurate theories could be refuted and observations acted as basis to support accurate theories.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Question 4: How did it affect Science?
By offering a standardized procedure for the scientific investigation, the scientific method resulted in the collection of more reliable data and thus scientists were able to make better conclusions. Other scientists can then use the data available to them to explain certain phenomena and conduct further investigations. The invention of the scientific method also encouraged more people to look for answers to their questions through independent experimentation, instead of looking into the Bible for answers. By early 18th century, the scientific method offered a promise of certainty that was not to be found anywhere else at that time. Hence, the scientific method boosted the study of science by giving people the confidence to discover and giving them a means to do so.

Conclusion:
Some of us might say that Bacon and Descartes had very different methods: one, a experimentalist and the other, a rationalist. It is important to note that the two are not as distant from one another as we might think. Both are moderns from the point of view of the early seventeenth century, opponents of the sterile Aristotelian science of the schools, and both saw a new method of investigation as central in the attack against the old and in the establishment of a new science more adequate than the old.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Websites:
[] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon, retrieved on 20 February, 2010 h ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes#Biography, retrieved on 20 February, 2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei, retrieved on 20 February, 2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_history_of_scientific_method , retrieved on 20 February, 2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_scientific_method#Newton.27s_rules_of_reasoning , retrieved on 20 February, 2010 http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/lect/mod07.html , retrieved on 20 February, 2010

Books: Francis Bacon, 1851, the Advancement of Learning, Modern Library, Randon House, Inc., New York J. Bronowski, 1978, The common sense of science, Harvard University Press, Pages 32 to 33, 36 to 39 Daniel Garber, 2001, Descartes Embodied: Reading Cartesian Philosophy through Cartesian science, Press Syndicate of the University of// Western Experience Western civilization by Judith G. Coffin Robert C.Stacey Robert E.lerner Sandish Meacham

Others: RGS History 2010 Notes on Scientific Revolution Richard Powers, Eye wide open, April 16, 1999, New York Times Magazine Materials on Bacon and Descartes on this wiki

Done by: May CHan 308 Wang Chuning 308 Moira Low 308 Xiaoning 301 Lin Qing 301