The Process Of Science (English - Full Copy)
Chapter 1. Types of Knowledge
Your personal knowledge can be simplified into knowledge about nature (on the left in the diagram) and knowledge about yourself (on the right in the diagram).
Nature means the physical world and universe. Humanity have been accumulating knowledge on nature for thousands of years. It can be broken down into:
Knowledge about yourself, which defines who you are as a human, can be broken down into:
You are always drawing on knowledge from one or more of these categories.
Chapter 2. Personal Bias
Bias is when personal beliefs (β) interfere or overrule knowledge about nature.
In some cases, a personal belief can overrule knowledge that is in the unknown (β1) category; Do you believe aliens exist?
Sometimes a personal belief can overrule knowledge that is a scientific theory (β2) or even more erroneous, personal beliefs can overrule facts (β3). Scepticism and assigning probabilities are acceptable in these categories, but personal beliefs do not belong here.
If you believe the Earth is 6000 years old, you are ignoring all the evidence within the current scientific theories that have been independently verified and critiqued. If you believe that the Earth is flat, you are ignoring facts such as observing the stars rotate in opposite directions in the different hemispheres.
There is no conflict between beliefs and either scientific theory (β2) or fact (β3). Science never asks anyone to believe, and beliefs should never overrule what we can confidently prove.
Chapter 3. The Scientific Theory
A scientific theory is built on a mountain of evidence and fact that must be independently reproducible and independently verifiable.
A scientific theory is good when it has withstood the scrutiny of scientists for a long period of time but becomes great if it can also make predictions that can be verified.
However, if even one piece of contradicting evidence (that can stand up to scientific scrutiny) arises, the original scientific theory must be thrown out. Any scientist would love to disprove any established scientific theory.
If contradicting evidence has been found for an established scientific theory, the updated theory is usually a tweak of the old one. This is because it must not only support the new contradicting evidence but must also support all the original evidence and facts, which could be mountainous.
Chapter 4. The Process Of Science
The aim of science is to understand and explain nature. It is done using a process called the scientific method which:
- Tries to only focussed on evidence & facts.
- Tries to be independent of any personal bias or personal belief.
- Details how any evidence was obtained so that anyone can reproduce it.
- Is open to public scrutiny and criticism, usually by publishing a scientific paper.
The process of science is very combative and designed to remove human errors and personal bias. When a scientist publishes a scientific paper, they must defend it from other scientists all over the world. If a scientific paper has withstood this criticism, and its evidence has been independently verified, over time, it can be thought of as a good or great scientific theory.
The theory can be considered scientific consensus if the majority of scientists (within its particular field of expertise) consider it a good or great scientific theory.
If a scientific paper fails to defend against criticism from other scientists, it is refined or improved or discarded. The Process of Science heals itself to produce better scientific theories over time.
Appendices - Language Translations
The Appendices of language translations have been removed from this extract. They are located https://scienceworldrecord.org/pages/the-process-of-science-language-translations.
Publisher Information
ScienceWorldRecord.org
The Process Of Science by Laurence R Tyson. Copyright © 2022 is published by Loquinar Engineering Pty Ltd of Sydney, Australia. If you have legally purchased ‘The Process Of Science’ you may reproduce all or part of this work without the express permission of the publisher. If you reproduce the diagrams, credit ScienceWorldRecord.org.
Any opinions expressed in ‘The Process Of Science’ are those of the author(s) and may not reflect the opinions of the publisher or its editors.
Thanks to freeiconspng.com; draw.io, google translator, binaryhexconverter.com and lingojam.com.
Please understand that this work was translated with positive intentions and corrections will be valued. The translations chosen are based on (A) the birthplace of our species, (B) the great ancient scientific civilizations, (C) the creators of mathematics, (D) our future ruler, and (E) the language of some of humanities greatest scientists and engineers. The Process of Science is language, culture and time period agnostic.
For Appendix E, we avoided translating languages that were previously available. This excluded most of the greatest scientists, mathematicians, and engineers in history. Name selection within a particular language was random. Liberties were taken with: James Clerk Maxwell & Isaac Newton.
For further information, please contact the publisher via the email support@ScienceWorldRecord.org.
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