Science and the scientific method: Definitions and examples

Science is a way to understand how things work. The discoveries about all the things in the universe accumulate the body of knowledge.
The Latin word "science" is derived from the Latin word "scientia" which means knowledge based on data. Science aims for measurable results through testing and analysis, a process known as the scientific method. Science is based on fact. The process of science challenges ideas through research. According to the University of California, Berkeley, the scientific process only focuses on the natural world. Anything that is beyond physical reality does not fit in with the definition of science.

The method of science.

Scientists use the scientific method to collect empirical evidence in an experiment that is designed to support or undermine a scientific theory.

"My favorite part of the scientific method is being in the field collecting the data," said a professor of biology at Marlboro College. Knowing that you are trying to answer an interesting question makes that fun. The first step in generating possible answers is a creative process. You analyze the data to see if your hypothesis is supported or not.

There are some good videos for you.

The image is from Shutterstock.

Highline College says that the steps of the scientific method go like this.

An observation or observation is made.
Make predictions based on the hypothesis that was formed.
An experiment that can be reproduced can be used to test the hypothesis and predictions.
Analyze the data and draw conclusions, accept or reject the hypothesis, or modify it if necessary.
There are no discrepancies between observations and theory if you reproduce the experiment. "Replication of methods and results is my favorite step in the scientific method," said Moshe Pritsker, a former post-doctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School and CEO of JoVE. The foundation of science is the reproducibility of published experiments. No science or reproducibility.

The scientific method has some key underpinnings.

According to North Carolina State University, the hypothesis needs to be tested. Falsifiable means there must be a negative answer to the hypothesis.
Research should involve both deductive and inferential reasoning. Deductive reasoning uses true premises to reach a logical conclusion while inductive reasoning uses observations to explain something.
The University of California, Santa Barbara says that an experiment should include a dependent variable and an independent variable.
An experiment should include both groups. The control group is what the experimental group is compared against.

Theory and law are hypothesis and theory.

The scientific method relies on the process of generating and testing a hypothesis. A scientific theory can be called when an idea has been confirmed in many experiments. A description of a phenomenon is provided by a scientific law, according to The University of Waikato. The first law of thermodynamics says that energy can't be created or destroyed.
A law doesn't explain why the phenomenon exists or what causes it. "Laws are a starting place in science," said Peter Coppinger, an associate professor of biology and biomedical engineering at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Scientists can ask the questions, 'Why and how'.

Some laws have been modified over time after further testing found discrepancies. Newton's laws of motion describe everything we've seen in the world, but they break down at the subatomic level.

Theories are not meaningless. Scientists must conduct rigorous testing across multiple disciplines for a hypothesis to become a theory. The scientific definition of "theory" is different from the layperson's definition. A theory is a hunch to most people. The framework for observations and facts is a theory in science.

There is a brief history of science.

The solar system from 1708 shows the moon's position around the Earth and the planets' positions around the sun, all surrounded by the 12 signs of the zodiac. The Oxford Science Archive/Print Collector has this image.

As records exist, the earliest evidence of science can be found. Early tablets contain information about the solar system, which was derived from careful observation, prediction and testing of those predictions. Over time, science became more scientific.

The framework for the proper methods of modern scientific experimentation was developed by Robert Grosseteste in the 1200s. The principle that an inquiry must be based on measurable evidence was included in his works.

Leonardo da Vinci began his notebooks in the 1400s in pursuit of evidence that the human body is a mosaic. The artist, scientist and mathematician gathered information.

The understanding of the solar system was advanced in the 1500s by the discovery of heliocentrism byNicolaus Copernicus. Earth and the other planets are in the center of the solar system.

The laws of planetary motion were built upon by Johannes Kepler in the 1600s. Galileo used the telescope to study the sun and planets. The study of physics was improved in the 1600s as a result of the work of IsaacNewton.

Benjamin Franklin found out that lightning is electrical. He contributed to the study of meteorology. The understanding of chemistry evolved during this century as the father of modern chemistry,Antoine Lavoisier, developed the law of conserve of mass.

The invention of the battery was the result of Alessandro Volta's discoveries. Atomic theory states that all matter is composed of atoms that combine to form a molecule. The basis of modern study of genetics was advanced when the laws of inheritance were revealed by Gregor Mendel. The basis for understanding how to harness electrical charges was provided by George Ohm's law, while X-rays were discovered by Wilhelm Conrad Rntgen.

The 20th century was dominated by the discoveries of Albert Einstein, who is best known for his theory of relativity. Einstein's theory of relativity has two different theories. His 1905 paper, "The Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies," concluded that time must change according to the speed of a moving object relative to the frame of reference. His second theory of general relativity advanced the idea that matter causes space to curve.

The incidence of the disease in the United States was reduced by nearly 90% after the invention of the vaccine. The structure of the double helix of DNA was discovered by James D. Watson and Francis Crick.

The 21st century saw the completion of the first draft of the human genome. The study of genetics, its role in human biology and its use as a predictor of diseases and other disorders has advanced thanks to this.

There are additional resources.

There is a bibliography.

The dictionary from Merriam-Webster. It's called "Scientia" and it's in the year 2022.

The University of California, Berkeley has an article about understanding science.
Highline College has a scientific method. On July 12th, 2015, people.highline.edu/iglozman/classes/astronotes/scimeth.
North Carolina State University has a project called "science scripts".
The University of California, Santa Barbara. "What is an independent variable?" October 31, 2017: scienceline.ucsb.edu
"Control group" in Encyclopedia Britannica. May 14, 2020.
"Scientific hypothesis, theories and laws" is a paper by the University of Waikato.
Robert Grosseteste is the author of the Encyclopedia of Philosophy. May 3, 2019.
"Jonas Salk" is in the Encyclopedia Britannica. On October 21, 2021,britannica.com will have a biography of jonas salk.

The National Human Genome Research Institute has a "phosphate backbone".
The National Human Genome Research Institute asked, "What is the Human Genome Project?"
The article was updated on January 16, 2022.