Insurgency for Science's Sake

We are now in the 21st century, and many say that we have come a long way from how our ancestors have lived. We now have so many things that make our lives a breeze - new tools and deep understanding on how living- and non-living things work. But how did we ever made it this far? It's because of a systematic body of knowledge, we now know as S-C-I-E-NCE. Science, as they say, paved the road from the ignorance to knowledge because of the discoveries of scientists. Nevertheless, many of us do not pay attention as to how these knowledges were deciphered by the scientists.

For centuries, beginning with the ancients, scientists have sought different ways to explain the phenomena of nature. Thus, they have constructed a guideline on how to do so: the scientific method. It is a step-by-step process of observation, prediction and experimentation for a scientific study. Although there is an "established" scientific method, new knowledge led scientists to present different approaches. (Take quizzes to test your mastery of the Scientific Method: http://www.quizmoz.com/quizzes/Science-Quizzes/s/Scientific-Method-Quiz.asp, http://www.biology4kids.com/extras/quiz_studyscimeth/q02.html)

Galileo Galilei and his telescope

For more facts visit
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090825-galileos-telescope-400-anniversary-facts.html

Galileo presenting his theory to priests

One of the prominent revolutionary scientists in the Renaissance period is Galileo Galilei. Most us only regard him as the one who invented the telescope; what we didn't know was that he is one of the scientists that initiated the scientific revolution.

Galileo in his trial against the Roman Catholic Church 

He initiated the split between science and religion from his works on physics, inspired by Nicolaus Copernicus. Galilei used mathematics, experimentation and observation to prove the sun-centered theory of Copernicus. These findings led him to a nuisance with the Roman Catholic Church, since they believed that the Earth is the center of the universe. Moreover, he advocated for the use of inductive reasoning in performing the scientific method, which is also iniquitous for the Church. Accordingly, he was placed in house-arrest because of his dispute.


"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same god who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use" - Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

Galileo's revolution made a significant impact on the scientific community because of his methods. When he see a problem, he reduces it to simpler terms by means of logic and experience and analyzes them through the use of mathematics. His methods, accompanied by his condemnation, appealed to emerging scientists, such as Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler.

While Galileo Galilei promoted the separation of Church and Science, a 20th century philosopher, Paul Feyerabend, advocated for the separation of Science and State in his book Against Methods (1975).

"The separation of state and church must be complemented by the separation of state and science, that most recent, most aggressive, and most dogmatic religious institution" - Paul Feyerabend

In his books, he postulated the idea that there can never be a single scientific method that can be used by all scientists. Grounding all scientific study would only limit the progress of science to explain how nature works and, consequently, prevent the growth of knowledge of humans. He proposed that the scientific method should be done with a mixture of all the proposed reasoning and ways so as not hinder the progress of scientific discoveries. Because of this, he has presented a new method: Anything Goes! or Theoretical Anarchism.

Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994)

“There is only one principle that can be defended under all stages of human development. It is the principle: anything goes.” – Paul Feyerabend

Nowadays, with all the new knowledge and even more complexity discovered, it is safe to say that a little of each of the methods proposed should be used in order to maximize the resources and advantages fed to us by past discoveries
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References:


Blunden, A. (1975). Against method. Retrieved September 21, 2010 from http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/feyerabe.htm

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Microsoft Corporation Inc. (2009). Galileo. Microsoft Encarta [DVD]. Richmond, WA

Newall, P. (2005). Anything Goes: Feyerabend and Method. Galilean library. Retrieved September 25, 2010 from http://www.galilean-library.org/site/index.php?/page/index.html/_/essays/philosophyofscience/anything-goes-feyerabend-and-method-r76

Preston, J. (2009). Paul Feyerabend. Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved September 21, 2010 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feyerabend/

Shuttleworth, M. (2009). History of The Scientific Method. Experiment resources. Retrieved September 23, 2010 from http://www.experiment-resources.com/history-of-the-scientific-method.html

Stanbrough, J. L. (2005). The inductive (scientific) method. Retrieved Septermber 23, 2010 from http://www.batesville.k12.in.us/physics/phynet/aboutscience/Inductive.html

Tisthammerw. (2006). The nature and philosophy of science. Retrieved September 21, 2010 from http://www.angelfire.com/mn2/tisthammerw/science.html