Yes, New York Times, there is a scientific method (Synopsis) [Starts With A Bang]

“Philosophy of science is about as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds.” -Richard Feynman

Writing in the New York Times on Monday, philosopher James Blachowicz argues that just as “justice” and “courage” are hard to define but easy to recognize, so science is the same way, and that there’s no method to it.

Kepler’s Platonic solid model of the Solar system from Mysterium Cosmographicum (1596). Image credit: J. Kepler.

Is he right? Is science no different than poetry or philosophy in this regard? Or is the fact that only science confronts its ideas with testable evidence enough to separate it from other, non-scientific pursuits?

Tycho Brahe’s Mars data, fitted to Kepler’s theory. Image credit: Wayne Pafko, 2000, via http://ift.tt/29htOSt.

It turns out that there is a scientific method, and even Blachowicz’s own examples illustrate it! Go get the whole story on Forbes today.

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/29gCtZk

“Philosophy of science is about as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds.” -Richard Feynman

Writing in the New York Times on Monday, philosopher James Blachowicz argues that just as “justice” and “courage” are hard to define but easy to recognize, so science is the same way, and that there’s no method to it.

Kepler’s Platonic solid model of the Solar system from Mysterium Cosmographicum (1596). Image credit: J. Kepler.

Is he right? Is science no different than poetry or philosophy in this regard? Or is the fact that only science confronts its ideas with testable evidence enough to separate it from other, non-scientific pursuits?

Tycho Brahe’s Mars data, fitted to Kepler’s theory. Image credit: Wayne Pafko, 2000, via http://ift.tt/29htOSt.

It turns out that there is a scientific method, and even Blachowicz’s own examples illustrate it! Go get the whole story on Forbes today.

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/29gCtZk