What is science, and what is the so-called scientific method? Science is a systematic attempt to understand natural phenomena in as much detail and depth as possible and use the knowledge gained to predict, modify and control phenomena. Science is exploring, experimenting, and predicting from what we see around us. The curiosity to learn about the world, unraveling the secrets of nature is the first step towards discovering science. The scientific method involves several interconnected steps: systematic observation, controlled experiments, qualitative and quantitative reasoning, mathematical modeling, prediction, and falsifying theories. Speculation and conjecture also have a place in science, but ultimately, a scientific theory, to be acceptable, must be verified by relevant observation or experiments. There is much philosophical debate about the nature and method of science that we need not discuss here.
In physics, we attempt to explain diverse physical phenomena. The effort is to see the physical world as a manifestation of universal laws in different domains and conditions. For example, the same law of gravitation.
Humans have always been curious about the world around them. The night sky, with its bright celestial objects, has fascinated humans since time immemorial. The regular repetitions of the day and night, the annual cycle of seasons, the eclipses, the tides, the volcanoes, the rainbow have always been a source of wonder. The world has an astonishing variety of materials, and imagination human mind has responded to the wonder and awe of nature in different ways. One kind of response from the earliest times has been to observe the physical environment, look for any meaningful pattern and relations in natural phenomena, and build and use new tools to interact with nature. This human endeavor led, over time, to modern science and technology. By the middle of the twentieth century, science had become a truly international enterprise, with many cultures and countries contributing to its rapid growth.
The interplay of theory and observations is basic to the progress of science. Science is ever dynamic. There is no final theory in scientists. As observations improve in detail and precision or experiments yield new results, theories must account for them, if necessary, by introducing modifications. Sometimes the modifications may not be drastic and may lie within the framework of existing theory. For example, when Johanna Kepler (1571-1630) examined the extension data on planetary motion collected by Tycho Brahe ( 1546 -1543) had to be replaced by elliptical orbits in heliocentric theory imagined by Nicolas Copernicus had to be replaced by elliptical orbits to fit the better. Occasionally, however, the existing theory is simply unable to explain new observations. This causes major upheaval in science. At the beginning of the twentieth century, it was realized that Newtonian mechanics, a very successful theory, could not phenomenon until then. Similarly, the then accepted wave picture of light failed to explain the photoelectric effect properly. This led to the development of a radically new theory to deal with atomic and molecular phenomena.
A related effort derives a bigger, more complex system's properties and interaction of its constituent simpler parts. This is called reduction and heart of physics.
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