The Scientific Method and it's role in Astronomy.

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'𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝' 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 '𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲'

The scientific method is a research concept that was born along with the first foundations of modern science at some point during the 1600-1700s. It comprises a series of steps believed to be necessary in order to properly carry out a scientific discovery or theory.

Modern science and the scientific method are both based on empiricism: the idea that humans can only reach knowledge through experimentation, observation, and the data received by our senses. 

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲, 𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬:

•𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐳𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐧.

•𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐧; 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬.

•𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐧.

•𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭.

•𝐅𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐡, 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲.

•𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 o𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐨.

The scientific method is a very general guideline that gives the scientific community an idea of how to develop accurate explanations for the behavior of the universe.

There are a few other things which you need to know!

Independent Variable

This is the part of your experiment that you will test (vary) to answer your hypothesis. In the example above, the independent variable would be the different colors of the light bulbs.

Dependent Variable

This is what occurs in response to the changing independent variable. In our example the Dependent Variable is how much the grass seeds grow.

Control

The control should be the part of the experiment where you do not include the Independent Variable. In our example, grass seed that is growing under the white (uncolored) bulb would be your control. The control lets you compare your results in the experiment.

Now the question arises, why scientific method, why do we need these set of steps to prove something, why is it of such an high importance in scientific method, it is because, The scien tific method attempts to minimize the influence of bias or prejudice in the experimenter. Even the best-intentioned scientists can't escape bias. It results from personal beliefs, as well as cultural beliefs, which means any human filters information based on his or her own experience. Unfortunately, this filtering process can cause a scientist to prefer one outcome over another. For someone trying to solve a problem around the house, succumbing to these kinds of biases is not such a big deal. But in the scientific community, where results have to be reviewed and duplicated, bias must be avoided at all costs.

­That's the job of the scientific method. It provides an objective, standardized approach to conducting experiments and, in doing so, improves their results.

The scientific method is the methodology which helps distinguish us between the domain of science and pseudoscience, it distinguises between truth and reality, fields like Ayurveda, Astrology, Homeopathy...etc have been proved to be ineffective with the help of the scientific method

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 𝐢𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐚, 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬.

Astronomers, like other scientists, follow the same line of Hypothesis, Prediction, & Test in a continual circle. New theories based on mathematics have frequently caused a reexamination of data that had seemed to verify predictions but have been later found to be misinterpreted. Theories have been modified or even discarded when faced with new data or new interpretation.

To be confident of an understanding of distant or even near objects, events, causations, or interpretations is difficult. (See Zapruder film.) Five people examining the same data set may come up with five different interpretations. How do you decide? Each interpretation has to be testable and tested. Falsification is the sharpest tool in the scientist’s bag. Any scientist-- astronomer, chemist, physicist, etc.--can have his/her theory falsified. When tested repeatedly without falsification, a theory gains in confidence. This is true whether the theory is in organic chemistry or planetary nebula chemistry.

A great deal of astronomical theory is based on observation and the creation of theories to explain the observation made. The theories devised must face the repeatability and falsification gauntlets. When a theory stands “the test of time” an astronomer gains confidence in the theory. This is the same for any other scientist in any branch of science

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝. 𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟓𝟒𝟑, 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡; 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐠𝐦𝐚𝐬.

Through the development of his own magnifying telescopes, the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei confirmed Copernicus's theory roughly 70 years after its formulation. He also accomplished this based on experimentation, on a combination of mathematical predictions and repeated observations of celestial bodies in our Solar System.

Isaac Newton finished polishing this new understanding of our universe thanks to his discoveries of gravitational forces, the properties of light and the principles of motion, something Galileo had also been working on. With these contributions, astronomy was completely reinvented.

So thanks to those three geniuses and several others, modern astronomy was born. And thanks to them, many of the foundations that compose the scientific method were also born.

                         .....𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 '𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝', 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 '𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲'!!

©Tanmay