Summary:
- The scientific method is a process of observation, testing that hypothesis, and developing a general principle.
- In European culture, this approach was developed mainly by Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Bacon advocated the use of inductive reasoning in every area of life, not just science.
- The scientific method as developed by Bacon and others involved several steps:ask a question – identify the problem to be consideredmake observations – gather data that pertains to the questionpropose an explanation ( a hypothesis) for the observations.