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.

A Summary of Scientific Method is a brief description of what makes science scientific. It is written in a direct, clear style that is accessible and informative for scientists and science students. It is intended to help science teachers explain how science works, highlighting strengths without ignoring limitations, and to help scientists articulate the process and standards of their work. The book demonstrates that there are several important requirements for being scientific, and the most fundamental of these is maintaining an extensive, interconnected, coherent network of ideas. Some components in the network are empirical, others are theoretical, and they support each other. Clarifying the structure of this web of knowledge explains the role of the commonly cited aspects of scientific method, things like hypotheses, theories, testing, evidence, and the like. A Summary of Scientific Method provides a clear, intuitive, and accurate model of scientific method.

Scientific literacy is an essential aspect of any undergraduate education. Recipes for Science responds to this need by providing an accessible introduction to the nature of science and scientific methods appropriate for any beginning college student. The book is adaptable to a wide variety of different courses, such as introductions to scientific reasoning, methods courses in scientific disciplines, science education, and philosophy of science. Special features of Recipes for Science include contemporary and historical case studies from many fields of physical, life, and social sciences; visual aids to clarify and illustrate ideas; text boxes to explore related topics; plenty of exercises to support student recall and application of concepts; suggestions for further readings at the end of each chapter; a glossary with helpful definitions of key terms; and a companion website with course syllabi, internet resources, PowerPoint presentations, lecture notes, additional exercises, and original short videos on key topics. Key Updates to the Second Edition 13 short chapters of uniform length that make it easier to adapt to a college semester Case studies and examples featuring new research and important historical research across many fields of science Added discussion of timely topics, including large research collaborations, trust and distrust of science, machine learning and other technology-driven advances, diversity in science, and connections to indigenous knowledge Streamlined and simplified discussion of some topics, such as experimentation and statistical hypothesis-testing Exercises that are clearly aligned with learning goals and sorted into types: Recall, Apply, and Think Additional online exercises and a series of original videos on key topics Exercise solutions available on an instructor-only section of the website

Excerpt from Scientific Method, Its Philosophy and Its Practice This book is chiefly intended for those who feel interested in the methodical procedure of scientific investigation, and although some parts of it may appeal most strongly to science teachers, yet the fact that scientific method is now destined to play so great a part not only in the whole of the educational field but also in every other field of thought and activity, may suffice to make the book welcome to a much wider circle than those whose interests are confined to the laboratory and the lecture table. The method adopted by men of science in their work is far different now from what it was in the time of Aristotle or even In the time of Bacon. Fundamentally, the main processes of the method of science are, in character, not direct but inverse, and inverse processes almost always present great difficulties. The method of science has thus been a thing of exceedingly slow growth, and even now is by no means fully developed. We smile at the methods of Descartes, who himself found serious fault with the methods of the ancients, and there is no doubt at all that our descendants will greatly improve on the methods of the present day. There are, however, a few original thinkers in the worlds history who have wrought strongly upon opinion and practice in scientific method, and who, in their day, effected enormous improvements upon the methods of their predecessors. Among these, Aristotle and Bacon stand supreme. But Aristotle was a pupil of Plato, and Plato of Socrates; Bacon's method was in strong contrast to that of his contemporary, Descartes; and Locke and Hume also played important parts in placing the method of science on firm foundations - Locke, in tracing to its origin the knowledge we believe we possess, and Hume in developing correct notions of causation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Solve your problems faster & more efficiently! This illustrated book presents an easy-to-use guide using 14 ingredients to originate, solve, & challenge problems (& decisions) in all fields, including your personal life. Each ingredient is explained & suggests the methods to use under them. While the method (little known because of controversies in the educational field that interfered with its development) is called THE GENERAL PATTERN OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD (SM-14), it is not just for scientists--it is the basic way knowledge is refined & extended in all fields of endeavor. There are examples of how each ingredient was used for great discoveries & its application in choosing a career. You will find sound advice on how to prepare a self-development program & learn how to learn. To increase your innovation & creativity, there are cartoons illustrating how to be more productive in finding & originating ideas. This book will enable you to attain real world smarts & become happier & more successful! Order from Norman W. Edmund, 407 NE 3rd Ave., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301. 305/525-7327; FAX 305/525-7459.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

First published in 1931, this volume represents the culmination of twenty years’ of the study on the principles of science. Noticing a widespread craving for philosophical light at a time of scant such offerings, Morris R. Cohen aimed to demonstrate here the fundamental and ancient connection between nature and science - between hearts and minds – in an attempt to salve the developing mutual hostility between the two in the 1920s. The volume bears particular relation to George Santayana’s Life of Reason and Bertrand Russell’s Principles of Mathematics and explores areas including the character of the insurgence against reason and reason in the contexts of the natural and social sciences.