Scientific Method in Practice

2003
Scientific Method in Practice

PDF Scientific Method in Practice Download

  • Author: Hugh G. Gauch
  • Publisher: Cambridge University Press
  • ISBN: 9780521017084
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 458

As the gateway to scientific thinking, an understanding of the scientific method is essential for success and productivity in science. This book is the first synthesis of the practice and the philosophy of the scientific method. It will enable scientists to be better scientists by offering them a deeper understanding of the underpinnings of the scientific method, thereby leading to more productive research and experimentation. It will also give scientists a more accurate perspective on the rationality of the scientific approach and its role in society. Beginning with a discussion of today's 'science wars' and science's presuppositions, the book then explores deductive and inductive logic, probability, statistics, and parsimony, and concludes with an examination of science's powers and limits, and a look at science education. Topics relevant to a variety of disciplines are treated, and clarifying figures, case studies, and chapter summaries enhance the pedagogy. This adeptly executed, comprehensive, yet pragmatic work yields a new synergy suitable for scientists and instructors, and graduate students and advanced undergraduates.

Scientific Method in Brief

2012-09-06
Scientific Method in Brief

PDF Scientific Method in Brief Download

  • Author: Hugh G. Gauch, Jr
  • Publisher: Cambridge University Press
  • ISBN: 1107311527
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 501

The fundamental principles of the scientific method are essential for enhancing perspective, increasing productivity, and stimulating innovation. These principles include deductive and inductive logic, probability, parsimony and hypothesis testing, as well as science's presuppositions, limitations, ethics and bold claims of rationality and truth. The examples and case studies drawn upon in this book span the physical, biological and social sciences; include applications in agriculture, engineering and medicine; and also explore science's interrelationships with disciplines in the humanities such as philosophy and law. Informed by position papers on science from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Sciences and National Science Foundation, this book aligns with a distinctively mainstream vision of science. It is an ideal resource for anyone undertaking a systematic study of scientific method for the first time, from undergraduates to professionals in both the sciences and the humanities.

Scientific Method

2017-12-01
Scientific Method

PDF Scientific Method Download

  • Author: John Staddon
  • Publisher: Routledge
  • ISBN: 1351586890
  • Category : Psychology
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 184

This book shows how science works, fails to work, or pretends to work, by looking at examples from such diverse fields as physics, biomedicine, psychology, and economics. Social science affects our lives every day through the predictions of experts and the rules and regulations they devise. Sciences like economics, sociology and health are subject to more ‘operating limitations’ than classical fields like physics or chemistry or biology. Yet, their methods and results must also be judged according to the same scientific standards. Every literate citizen should understand these standards and be able to tell the difference between good science and bad. Scientific Method enables readers to develop a critical, informed view of scientific practice by discussing concrete examples of how real scientists have approached the problems of their fields. It is ideal for students and professionals trying to make sense of the role of science in society, and of the meaning, value, and limitations of scientific methodology in the social sciences.

Exploring the Scientific Method

2011-04-15
Exploring the Scientific Method

PDF Exploring the Scientific Method Download

  • Author: Steven Gimbel
  • Publisher: University of Chicago Press
  • ISBN: 0226294838
  • Category : Philosophy
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 426

From their grade school classrooms forward, students of science are encouraged to memorize and adhere to the “scientific method”—a model of inquiry consisting of five to seven neatly laid-out steps, often in the form of a flowchart. But walk into the office of a theoretical physicist or the laboratory of a biochemist and ask “Which step are you on?” and you will likely receive a blank stare. This is not how science works. But science does work, and here award-winning teacher and scholar Steven Gimbel provides students the tools to answer for themselves this question: What actually is the scientific method? Exploring the Scientific Method pairs classic and contemporary readings in the philosophy of science with milestones in scientific discovery to illustrate the foundational issues underlying scientific methodology. Students are asked to select one of nine possible fields—astronomy, physics, chemistry, genetics, evolutionary biology, psychology, sociology, economics, or geology—and through carefully crafted case studies trace its historical progression, all while evaluating whether scientific practice in each case reflects the methodological claims of the philosophers. This approach allows students to see the philosophy of science in action and to determine for themselves what scientists do and how they ought to do it. Exploring the Scientific Method will be a welcome resource to introductory science courses and all courses in the history and philosophy of science.

Everyday Practice of Science

2008-12-31
Everyday Practice of Science

PDF Everyday Practice of Science Download

  • Author: Frederick Grinnell
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press
  • ISBN: 0199723540
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 247

Scientific facts can be so complicated that only specialists in a field fully appreciate the details, but the nature of everyday practice that gives rise to these facts should be understandable by everyone interested in science. This book describes how scientists bring their own interests and passions to their work, illustrates the dynamics between researchers and the research community, and emphasizes a contextual understanding of science in place of the linear model found in textbooks with its singular focus on "scientific method." Everyday Practice of Science also introduces readers to issues about science and society. Practice requires value judgments: What should be done? Who should do it? Who should pay for it? How much? Balancing scientific opportunities with societal needs depends on appreciating both the promises and the ambiguities of science. Understanding practice informs discussions about how to manage research integrity, conflict of interest, and the challenge of modern genetics to human research ethics. Society cannot have the benefits of research without the risks. The last chapter contrasts the practices of science and religion as reflective of two different types of faith and describes a holistic framework within which they dynamically interact.

String Theory and the Scientific Method

2013-05-02
String Theory and the Scientific Method

PDF String Theory and the Scientific Method Download

  • Author: Richard Dawid
  • Publisher: Cambridge University Press
  • ISBN: 1107067588
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 213

String theory has played a highly influential role in theoretical physics for nearly three decades and has substantially altered our view of the elementary building principles of the Universe. However, the theory remains empirically unconfirmed, and is expected to remain so for the foreseeable future. So why do string theorists have such a strong belief in their theory? This book explores this question, offering a novel insight into the nature of theory assessment itself. Dawid approaches the topic from a unique position, having extensive experience in both philosophy and high-energy physics. He argues that string theory is just the most conspicuous example of a number of theories in high-energy physics where non-empirical theory assessment has an important part to play. Aimed at physicists and philosophers of science, the book does not use mathematical formalism and explains most technical terms.

The Scientific Method

1964
The Scientific Method

PDF The Scientific Method Download

  • Author: Louis Frederick Fieser
  • Publisher:
  • ISBN:
  • Category : Chemical warfare
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 256

The author records episodes during World War II when he became involved in projects requiring incendiary devices of assorted and unconventional types. Post-war projects include development of devices for student experimentation and teaching. He shows how the scientific method was used on a range of projects from designing a device to ignite oil slicks on water to creating a squirrel-proof birdfeeder.

Solving Everyday Problems With The Scientific Method: Thinking Like A Scientist (Second Edition)

2016-12-21
Solving Everyday Problems With The Scientific Method: Thinking Like A Scientist (Second Edition)

PDF Solving Everyday Problems With The Scientific Method: Thinking Like A Scientist (Second Edition) Download

  • Author: Don K Mak
  • Publisher: World Scientific
  • ISBN: 9813145323
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 349

This book describes how one can use The Scientific Method to solve everyday problems including medical ailments, health issues, money management, traveling, shopping, cooking, household chores, etc. It illustrates how to exploit the information collected from our five senses, how to solve problems when no information is available for the present problem situation, how to increase our chances of success by redefining a problem, and how to extrapolate our capabilities by seeing a relationship among heretofore unrelated concepts.One should formulate a hypothesis as early as possible in order to have a sense of direction regarding which path to follow. Occasionally, by making wild conjectures, creative solutions can transpire. However, hypotheses need to be well-tested. Through this way, The Scientific Method can help readers solve problems in both familiar and unfamiliar situations. Containing real-life examples of how various problems are solved — for instance, how some observant patients cure their own illnesses when medical experts have failed — this book will train readers to observe what others may have missed and conceive what others may not have contemplated. With practice, they will be able to solve more problems than they could previously imagine.In this second edition, the authors have added some more theories which they hope can help in solving everyday problems. At the same time, they have updated the book by including quite a few examples which they think are interesting.

The Scientific Method

2018-07-19
The Scientific Method

PDF The Scientific Method Download

  • Author: Massimiliano Di Ventra
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press
  • ISBN: 019255963X
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 129

This book looks at how science investigates the natural world around us. It is an examination of the scientific method, the foundation of science, and basis on which our scientific knowledge is built on. Written in a clear, concise, and colloquial style, the book addresses all concepts pertaining to the scientific method. It includes discussions on objective reality, hypotheses and theory, and the fundamental and inalienable role of experimental evidence in scientific knowledge. This collection of personal reflections on the scientific methodology shows the observations and daily uses of an experienced practitioner. Massimiliano Di Ventra also examines the limits of science and the errors we make when abusing its method in contexts that are not scientific, for example, in policymaking. By reflecting on the general method, the reader can critically sort through other types of scientific claims, and judge their ability to apply it in study and in practice.

Science Rules

2004-09-24
Science Rules

PDF Science Rules Download

  • Author: Peter Achinstein
  • Publisher: JHU Press
  • ISBN: 9780801879432
  • Category : Business & Economics
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 450

Included is a famous nineteenth-century debate about scientific reasoning between the hypothetico-deductivist William Whewell and the inductivist John Stuart Mill; and an account of the realism-antirealism dispute about unobservables in science, with a consideration of Perrin's argument for the existence of molecules in the early twentieth century.