Introduction
A popular TV show, Mythbusters, on the Discovery Channel tries to apply the scientific method to the interesting urban myths and legends of everyday life that scientists or researchers wouldn't study. In this photo, they are measuring the force of the number of balloons needed to cause someone to float away (Discovery Communications).
There are all these claims out there, and science, by definition is conservative, because so many are wacky...so people claim they laughed at the Wright Brothers, and we say, yes but they laughed at the Marx Brothers. Being laughed at doesn't make you right...you have to have evidence. For every Wright Brothers or Galileo there are 10,000 wackos out there.
---Michael Shermer, August 21, 2007
You are in college to learn critical thinking and reasoning. College or "higher education" was borne out of the idea that decisions based on evidence, critical thinking and reasoning are better than those rooted in religion, opinion, and philosophy.
The scientific method is how natural and life science (biology, chemistry, physics, geology, etc.) incorporates reasoning and logic into decision making. However, the scientific method is often useful in business (decision science), communication, economics and other non-traditional scientific fields. The scientific method has been practiced for centuries—but it was not until the industrial revolution that science was formalized.
In this section, we’ll learn what makes the scientific method unique, how it is used, and how it should not be used. Further, since many of you are taking Environmental Geology to fulfill an Indiana or Purdue University science requirement—it is key that you leave this course with a firm understanding of how the scientific method works.
As you go through this course (or any other science) course, the scientific method is always sitting in the background—it’s never really discussed openly, it’s just an assumed rule everyone uses. Even in high school, the scientific method is briefly discussed and then forgotten about as students learn about chemistry, physics, and biology. Even among professional scientists, it is easy to forget that we are always using the scientific method.
One of the biggest challenges facing the scientific method is the ignorance of the public. The public often fails to understand the difference between science, religion, philosophy, and opinion. In this and the next module, we will discuss what science is and the major differences between science and non-science fields of study and thought.