Timeline of the history of scientific method
Encyclopedia
This Timeline of the history of scientific method shows an overview of the cultural invention
s that have contributed to the development of the scientific method
. For a detailed account, see History of the scientific method.
Cultural invention
- Definition :A Cultural invention is any innovation developed by people that is not of a physical construct. Cultural inventions include sets of behaviour adopted by groups of people. They are perpetuated by being passed on to others within the group or outside it. They are also passed on to...
s that have contributed to the development of the scientific method
Scientific method
Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...
. For a detailed account, see History of the scientific method.
BC
- c. 2000 BC — First text indexes (various cultures).
- c. 1600 BC — An Egyptian medicalAncient Egyptian medicineThe medicine of the ancient Egyptians is some of the oldest documented. From the beginnings of the civilization in the until the Persian invasion of 525 BC, Egyptian medical practice went largely unchanged and was highly advanced for its time, including simple non-invasive surgery, setting of...
textbook, the Edwin Smith papyrusEdwin Smith papyrusThe Edwin Smith Papyrus is an Ancient Egyptian medical text and the oldest known surgical treatise on trauma. It dates to Dynasties 16-17 of the Second Intermediate Period in Ancient Egypt, ca. 1500 BCE. The Edwin Smith papyrus is unique among the four principal medical papyri in existencethat...
, (circa 1600 BC17th century BCThe 17th century BC is a century which lasted from 1700 BC to 1601 BC.-Events:*c. 1700 BC: Indus Valley Civilization comes to an end but is continued by the Cemetery H culture*1700 BC: Belu-bani became the King of Assyria....
), applies the following components: examination, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis, to the treatment of disease, which display parallels to basic empiricalEmpiricalThe word empirical denotes information gained by means of observation or experimentation. Empirical data are data produced by an experiment or observation....
methodology. - c. 400 BC — In ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, MoziMoziMozi |Lat.]] as Micius, ca. 470 BC – ca. 391 BC), original name Mo Di , was a Chinese philosopher during the Hundred Schools of Thought period . Born in Tengzhou, Shandong Province, China, he founded the school of Mohism, and argued strongly against Confucianism and Daoism...
and the School of Names advocate using one's senses to observe the world, and develop the "three-prong method" for testing the truth or falsehood of statements. - c. 400 BC — DemocritusDemocritusDemocritus was an Ancient Greek philosopher born in Abdera, Thrace, Greece. He was an influential pre-Socratic philosopher and pupil of Leucippus, who formulated an atomic theory for the cosmos....
advocates inductive reasoningInductive reasoningInductive reasoning, also known as induction or inductive logic, is a kind of reasoning that constructs or evaluates propositions that are abstractions of observations. It is commonly construed as a form of reasoning that makes generalizations based on individual instances...
through a process of examining the causes of sensory perceptions and drawing conclusions about the outside world. - c. 320 BC — First comprehensive documents categorising and subdividing knowledge, dividing knowledge into different areas by AristotleAristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
,(physics, poetry, zoology, logic, rhetoric, politics, and biology). Aristotle's Posterior AnalyticsPosterior AnalyticsThe Posterior Analytics is a text from Aristotle's Organon that deals with demonstration, definition, and scientific knowledge. The demonstration is distinguished as a syllogism productive of scientific knowledge, while the definition marked as the statement of a thing's nature, .....
defends the ideal of science as necessary demonstration from axioms known with certainty. - c. 300 BC — Euclid's ElementsEuclid's ElementsEuclid's Elements is a mathematical and geometric treatise consisting of 13 books written by the Greek mathematician Euclid in Alexandria c. 300 BC. It is a collection of definitions, postulates , propositions , and mathematical proofs of the propositions...
expound geometryGeometryGeometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
as a system of theorems following logically from axioms known with certainty. - c. 200 BC — First CatalogLibrary catalogA library catalog is a register of all bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations...
ed libraryLibraryIn a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
(at AlexandriaAlexandriaAlexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
)
1st through 12th centuries
- c. 800 AD — Jābir ibn Hayyān designs controlled experimentsScientific controlScientific control allows for comparisons of concepts. It is a part of the scientific method. Scientific control is often used in discussion of natural experiments. For instance, during drug testing, scientists will try to control two groups to keep them as identical and normal as possible, then...
. - 1021 — Alhazen introduces the experimental method and combines observations, experiments and rational arguments in his Book of OpticsBook of OpticsThe Book of Optics ; ; Latin: De Aspectibus or Opticae Thesaurus: Alhazeni Arabis; Italian: Deli Aspecti) is a seven-volume treatise on optics and other fields of study composed by the medieval Muslim scholar Alhazen .-See also:* Science in medieval Islam...
. - c. 1025 — Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, develops experimental methods for mineralogyMineralogyMineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
and mechanicsMechanicsMechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the behavior of physical bodies when subjected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent effects of the bodies on their environment....
, and conducts elaborate experiments related to astronomicalIslamic astronomyIslamic astronomy or Arabic astronomy comprises the astronomical developments made in the Islamic world, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age , and mostly written in the Arabic language. These developments mostly took place in the Middle East, Central Asia, Al-Andalus, and North Africa, and...
phenomena. - 1027 — In The Book of HealingThe Book of HealingThe Book of Healing is a scientific and philosophical encyclopedia written by Abū Alī ibn Sīnā from Asfahana, near Bukhara in Greater Persia. Despite its English title, it is not in fact concerned with medicine...
, AvicennaAvicennaAbū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā , commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived...
criticizes the AristotelianAristotelianismAristotelianism is a tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. The works of Aristotle were initially defended by the members of the Peripatetic school, and, later on, by the Neoplatonists, who produced many commentaries on Aristotle's writings...
method of inductionInductive reasoningInductive reasoning, also known as induction or inductive logic, is a kind of reasoning that constructs or evaluates propositions that are abstractions of observations. It is commonly construed as a form of reasoning that makes generalizations based on individual instances...
, arguing that "it does not lead to the absolute, universal, and certain premises that it purports to provide", and in its place, develops examination and experimentation as a means for scientific inquiry.
13th through 17th centuries
- 1220-1235 —, Robert GrossetesteRobert GrossetesteRobert Grosseteste or Grossetete was an English statesman, scholastic philosopher, theologian and Bishop of Lincoln. He was born of humble parents at Stradbroke in Suffolk. A.C...
, an English scholastic philosopher, theologian and the bishop of Lincoln, published his Aristotelian commentaries, which laid out the framework for the proper methods of science. - 1265 — Roger BaconRoger BaconRoger Bacon, O.F.M. , also known as Doctor Mirabilis , was an English philosopher and Franciscan friar who placed considerable emphasis on the study of nature through empirical methods...
, an English monk, inspired by the writings of Grosseteste, described a scientific method, which he based on a repeating cycle of observationObservationObservation is either an activity of a living being, such as a human, consisting of receiving knowledge of the outside world through the senses, or the recording of data using scientific instruments. The term may also refer to any data collected during this activity...
, hypothesisHypothesisA hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. The term derives from the Greek, ὑποτιθέναι – hypotithenai meaning "to put under" or "to suppose". For a hypothesis to be put forward as a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it...
, experimentation, and the need for independent verificationVerificationThe word verification may refer to:* Verification and validation, in engineering or quality management systems, it is the act of reviewing, inspecting or testing, in order to establish and document that a product, service or system meets regulatory or technical standards.* Verification , in the...
. He recorded the manner in which he conducted his experiments in precise detail so that others could reproduce and independently test his results. - 1327 — Ockham's razor clearly formulated (by William of OckhamWilliam of OckhamWilliam of Ockham was an English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small village in Surrey. He is considered to be one of the major figures of medieval thought and was at the centre of the major intellectual and political controversies of...
) - 1403 — Yongle EncyclopediaYongle EncyclopediaThe Yongle Encyclopedia was a Chinese compilation of information commissioned by the Chinese Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle in 1403 and completed by 1408...
, the first collaborative encyclopediaEncyclopediaAn encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge.... - 1590 — Controlled experiments by Francis BaconFrancis BaconFrancis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
- 1595 — MicroscopeMicroscopeA microscope is an instrument used to see objects that are too small for the naked eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy...
invented in Holland - 1600 — First dedicated laboratoryLaboratoryA laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
- 1608 — Telescope invented in Holland
- 1620 — Novum OrganumNovum OrganumThe Novum Organum, full original title Novum Organum Scientiarum, is a philosophical work by Francis Bacon, written in Latin and published in 1620. The title translates as new instrument, i.e. new instrument of science. This is a reference to Aristotle's work Organon, which was his treatise on...
published, (Francis BaconFrancis BaconFrancis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
) - 1637 — First Scientific method (René DescartesRené DescartesRené Descartes ; was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day...
) - 1638 — Galileo's Two New SciencesTwo New SciencesThe Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences was Galileo's final book and a sort of scientific testament covering much of his work in physics over the preceding thirty years.After his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, the Roman Inquisition had banned...
published, containing two thought experimentThought experimentA thought experiment or Gedankenexperiment considers some hypothesis, theory, or principle for the purpose of thinking through its consequences...
s, namely Galileo's Leaning Tower of Pisa experimentGalileo's Leaning Tower of Pisa experimentright|thumb|Hammer and Feather Drop - [[Apollo 15]] [[astronaut]] [[David Scott]] on the Moon recreating Galileo's famous experiment....
and Galileo's shipGalileo's shipGalileo's ship is a physics experiment proposed by Galileo Galilei, the famous 16th and 17th century physicist, astronomer, and philosopher. The experiment was created to disprove popular arguments against the idea of a rotating Earth.-Background:...
, which are intended to disprove existing physical theories by showing that they have contradictory consequences. - 1650 — Society of experts (the Royal SocietyRoyal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
) - 1650 — Experimental evidence established as the arbiter of truth (the Royal SocietyRoyal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
) - 1665 — RepeatabilityRepeatabilityRepeatability or test-retest reliability is the variation in measurements if they would have been taken by a single person or instrument on the same item and under the same conditions. A less-than-perfect test-retest reliability causes test-retest variability. Such variability can be caused by, for...
established (Robert BoyleRobert BoyleRobert Boyle FRS was a 17th century natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor, also noted for his writings in theology. He has been variously described as English, Irish, or Anglo-Irish, his father having come to Ireland from England during the time of the English plantations of...
) - 1665 — Scholarly journalsScientific journalIn academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...
established - 1675 — Peer reviewPeer reviewPeer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...
begun - 1687 — Hypothesis/prediction (Isaac Newton)
18th and 19th centuries
- 1739 — David HumeDavid HumeDavid Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
's Treatise of Human Nature argues that the problem of inductionProblem of inductionThe problem of induction is the philosophical question of whether inductive reasoning leads to knowledge. That is, what is the justification for either:...
is unsolvable. - 1753 — First description of a controlled experiment using identical populations with only one variable: James LindJames LindJames Lind FRSE FRCPE was a Scottish physician. He was a pioneer of naval hygiene in the Royal Navy. By conducting the first ever clinical trial, he developed the theory that citrus fruits cured scurvy...
's research into ScurvyScurvyScurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
among sailors. - 1812 — The formulation by Hans Christian ØrstedHans Christian ØrstedHans Christian Ørsted was a Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, an important aspect of electromagnetism...
of the Latin-German mixed term Gedankenexperiment (lit. experiment conducted in the thoughts, or thought experimentThought experimentA thought experiment or Gedankenexperiment considers some hypothesis, theory, or principle for the purpose of thinking through its consequences...
). Although the method had been in use by philosophers since antiquity. - 1815 — An optimal designOptimal designOptimal designs are a class of experimental designs that are optimal with respect to some statistical criterion.In the design of experiments for estimating statistical models, optimal designs allow parameters to be estimated without bias and with minimum-variance...
for polynomial regressionPolynomial regressionIn statistics, polynomial regression is a form of linear regression in which the relationship between the independent variable x and the dependent variable y is modeled as an nth order polynomial...
is published by Joseph Diaz GergonneJoseph Diaz GergonneJoseph Diaz Gergonne was a French mathematician and logician.-Life:In 1791, Gergonne enlisted in the French army as a captain. That army was undergoing rapid expansion because the French government feared a foreign invasion intended to undo the French Revolution and restore Louis XVI to full power...
. - 1877-1878 — Charles Sanders Peirce publishes "Illustrations of the Logic of Science", popularizing his trichotomy of AbductionAbductive reasoningAbduction is a kind of logical inference described by Charles Sanders Peirce as "guessing". The term refers to the process of arriving at an explanatory hypothesis. Peirce said that to abduce a hypothetical explanation a from an observed surprising circumstance b is to surmise that a may be true...
, DeductionDeductive reasoningDeductive reasoning, also called deductive logic, is reasoning which constructs or evaluates deductive arguments. Deductive arguments are attempts to show that a conclusion necessarily follows from a set of premises or hypothesis...
and InductionInductive reasoningInductive reasoning, also known as induction or inductive logic, is a kind of reasoning that constructs or evaluates propositions that are abstractions of observations. It is commonly construed as a form of reasoning that makes generalizations based on individual instances...
. Peirce explains randomizationRandomizationRandomization is the process of making something random; this means:* Generating a random permutation of a sequence .* Selecting a random sample of a population ....
as a basis for statistical inferenceStatistical inferenceIn statistics, statistical inference is the process of drawing conclusions from data that are subject to random variation, for example, observational errors or sampling variation...
. - 1885 — C. S. Peirce with Joseph JastrowJoseph JastrowJoseph Jastrow was an American psychologist, noted for inventions in experimental psychology, design of experiments, and psycho-physics. Jastrow was one of the first scientists to study the evolution of language, publishing an article on the topic in 1886...
first describes blinded, randomized experimentRandomized experimentIn science, randomized experiments are the experiments that allow the greatest reliability and validity of statistical estimates of treatment effects...
s, which become established in psychology. - 1897 — Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin proposes the use of multiple hypotheses to assist in the design of experiments.
20th and 21st centuries
- 1926 — Randomized designCompletely randomized designIn the design of experiments, completely randomized designs are for studying the effects of one primary factor without the need to take other nuisance variables into account. This article describes completely randomized designs that have one primary factor. The experiment compares the values of a...
popularized and analyzed by Ronald FisherRonald FisherSir Ronald Aylmer Fisher FRS was an English statistician, evolutionary biologist, eugenicist and geneticist. Among other things, Fisher is well known for his contributions to statistics by creating Fisher's exact test and Fisher's equation...
(following Peirce) - 1934 — FalsifiabilityFalsifiabilityFalsifiability or refutability of an assertion, hypothesis or theory is the logical possibility that it can be contradicted by an observation or the outcome of a physical experiment...
as a criterion for evaluating new hypotheses is popularized by Karl PopperKarl PopperSir Karl Raimund Popper, CH FRS FBA was an Austro-British philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics...
's The Logic of Scientific DiscoveryThe Logic of Scientific DiscoveryThe Logic of Scientific Discovery is a 1934 book by Karl Popper. It was originally written in German and titled Logik der Forschung. Then Popper reformulated his book in English and republished it in 1959. This forms the rare case of a major work to appear in two languages, both written and one...
(following Peirce) - 1937 — Controlled placeboPlacebo effectPlacebo effect may refer to:* Placebo effect, the tendency of any medication or treatment, even an inert or ineffective one, to exhibit results simply because the recipient believes that it will work...
trial - 1946 — First computer simulationComputer simulationA computer simulation, a computer model, or a computational model is a computer program, or network of computers, that attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system...
- 1950 — Double blind experiment
- 1962 — Meta study of scientific method (Thomas KuhnThomas KuhnThomas Samuel Kuhn was an American historian and philosopher of science whose controversial 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was deeply influential in both academic and popular circles, introducing the term "paradigm shift," which has since become an English-language staple.Kuhn...
's The Structure of Scientific RevolutionsThe Structure of Scientific RevolutionsThe Structure of Scientific Revolutions , by Thomas Kuhn, is an analysis of the history of science. Its publication was a landmark event in the history, philosophy, and sociology of scientific knowledge and it triggered an ongoing worldwide assessment and reaction in — and beyond — those scholarly...
) - 1964 — Strong inferenceStrong inferenceIn philosophy of science, strong inference is a model of scientific inquiry that emphasises the need for alternative hypotheses, rather than a single hypothesis in order to avoid confirmation bias....
proposed by John R. Platt - 2009 — AdamAdam (robot)Adam is a robot scientist or laboratory robot created and developed by the Computational Biology research group at Aberystwyth University. As a prototype for a "robot scientist", Adam is able to perform independent experiments to test hypotheses and interpret findings without human guidance...
- First working prototype of a "robot scientist" able to perform independent experiments to test hypotheses and interpret findings without human guidance.