View source for History:Timeline of the history of scientific method

This '''timeline of the history of scientific method''' shows an overview of the cultural inventions that have contributed to the development of the [[Scientific method|scientific method]]. For a detailed account, see History of the scientific method.



Scientific method is :

A)'''ask a question'''

B) '''hypothenis''' 

C)'''variables ......dependent / independent/controled ....'''

D)'''exprariment''' 

<br />

==BC==
*c. 1600 BC — The Edwin Smith Papyrus, an [[Medicine:Ancient Egyptian medicine|Egyptian surgical]] textbook, which applies: examination, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis, to injuries,<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/179901/Edwin-Smith-papyrus&ct= Edwin Smith papyrus], [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]</ref> paralleling rudimentary empirical methodology.<ref>Lloyd, G. E. R.  "The development of empirical research", in his ''Magic, Reason and Experience: Studies in the Origin and Development of Greek Science''.</ref>
*  624 - 548 BC — Thales raised the study of nature from the realm of the mythical to the level of empirical study.<ref name="Magill2003" />
* 610 - 547 BC — [[Biography:Anaximander|Anaximander]] extends the idea of "law" to the physical world and uses maps and models.<ref name="Magill2003">{{cite book|last=Magill|first=Frank N.|title=The Ancient World: Dictionary of World Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_CMl8ziTbKYC|accessdate=9 March 2015|date=2003-12-16|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135457396}}</ref>
*c. 400 BC — In {{wipe|China}}, [[Biography:Mozi|Mozi]] and the [[Philosophy:School of Names|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 — [[Biography:Democritus|Democritus]] advocates [[Philosophy:Inductive reasoning|inductive reasoning]] through a process of examining the causes of sensory perceptions and drawing conclusions about the outside world.
*c. 400 BC — [[Biography:Plato|Plato]] first provides a detailed definitions for idea, matter, form and appearance as abstract concepts.
*c. 320 BC —  First comprehensive documents categorising and subdividing knowledge, dividing knowledge into different areas by [[Biography:Aristotle|Aristotle]],(physics, poetry, zoology, logic, rhetoric, politics, and biology). Aristotle's [[Philosophy:Posterior Analytics|Posterior Analytics]] defends the ideal of science as necessary demonstration from axioms known with certainty. Aristotle believes that the world is real and that we can learn the truth by experience.<ref name="Gauch2003">{{cite book|last=Gauch|first=Hugh G.|title=Scientific Method in Practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iVkugqNG9dAC|accessdate=17 February 2015|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521017084}}</ref> Latin:experimentum
*c. 341-270 BC — [[Biography:Epicurus|Epicurus]] scientific method with multiple variables.<ref name="Gauch2003" />
*c. 300 BC — [[Euclid's Elements]] expound [[Geometry|geometry]] as a system of theorems following logically from axioms known with certainty.
*c. 240 BC — [[Biography:Eratosthenes|Eratosthenes]] best known for being the first person to calculate the [[Earth:History of geodesy#Hellenic world|circumference of the Earth]], which he did by applying a measuring system using [[Stadion (unit)|stadia]], which was a standard unit of measure during that time period. His calculation was remarkably accurate.
*c. 200 BC — First [[Library catalog|Catalog]]ed library (at [[Place:Alexandria|Alexandria]])
*c. 150 BC — The Book of Daniel describes a [[Engineering:Clinical trial|clinical trial]] proposed by Daniel in which he and his three companions eat vegetables and water for 10 days rather than the royal food and wine.

==1st through 12th centuries==
*c. 90-168 — Claudius Ptolemy<ref name="Barker2000">{{cite book|last=Barker|first=Andrew|title=Scientific Method in Ptolemy's Harmonics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8e7GlFqcxPEC|accessdate=17 February 2015|year=2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521553728}}</ref>
*c. 721-873 — Muslim scientists used [[Experiment|experiment]] and [[Philosophy:Quantification (science)|quantification]] to distinguish between competing scientific theories, set within a generically empirical orientation, as can be seen in the works of Jābir ibn Hayyān (721–815)<ref>{{Citation | publisher = Clarendon Press | last = Holmyard | first = E. J. | title = Makers of Chemistry | location = Oxford | year = 1931 | url = https://archive.org/details/makersofchemistr029725mbp | page = 56 | authorlink = Eric John Holmyard}}</ref> and [[Biography:Al-Kindi|Alkindus]] (801–873)<ref name=Plinio-17>Plinio Prioreschi, "Al-Kindi, A Precursor Of The Scientific Revolution", ''Journal of the International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine'', 2002 (2): 17–19 [17].</ref> as early examples.
*1021 — [[Biography:Ibn al-Haytham|Ibn al-Haytham]] introduces the experimental method and combines observations, experiments and rational arguments in his ''[[Physics:Book of Optics|Book of Optics]]''.
*c. 1025 — Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, develops experimental methods for [[Earth:Mineralogy|mineralogy]] and [[Physics:Mechanics|mechanics]], and conducts elaborate experiments related to astronomical phenomena.
*1027 — In ''The Book of Healing'', [[Biography:Avicenna|Avicenna]] criticizes the [[Philosophy:Aristotelianism|Aristotelian]] method of [[Philosophy:Inductive reasoning|induction]], arguing that "it does not lead to the absolute, universal, and certain premises that it purports to provide", and in its place, develops [[Observational study|examination]] and experimentation as a means for scientific inquiry.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}}

==13th through 17th centuries==
*1220–1235 — [[Biography:Robert Grosseteste|Robert Grosseteste]], 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.<ref name="Ireland2000">{{cite book|last=Ireland|first=Maynooth James McEvoy Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy National University of|title=Robert Grosseteste|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ii3Rs56pE2wC&pg=PA197|accessdate=9 March 2015|date=2000-08-31|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195354171}}</ref>
* 1265 — [[Biography:Roger Bacon|Roger Bacon]], an English monk, inspired by the writings of Grosseteste, described a scientific method, which he based on a repeating cycle of observation, [[Hypothesis|hypothesis]], experimentation, and the need for independent [[Engineering:Verification and validation|verification]]. He recorded the manner in which he conducted his experiments in precise detail so that others could reproduce and independently test his results.<ref name="Clegg2013">{{cite book|last=Clegg|first=Brian|title=Roger Bacon: The First Scientist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_bTABAAAQBAJ&pg=PT134|accessdate=17 February 2015|date=2013-08-29|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|isbn=9781472112125}}</ref>
*1327 — Ockham's razor clearly formulated (by [[Biography:William of Ockham|William of Ockham]]) which  states that among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected.
*1403 — Yongle Encyclopedia, the first collaborative encyclopedia
*1581 — [[Biography:Francisco Sanches|Francisco Sanches]]   uses classical skeptical arguments to show that science, in the Aristotelian sense of giving necessary reasons or causes for the behavior of nature, cannot be attained. 
*1581 — [[Biography:Tycho Brahe|Tycho Brahe]] builds large scale research facility, Stjerneborg dedicated to obtaining high precision measurements of the planets.
*1595 — [[Engineering:Microscope|Microscope]] invented in the Netherlands
*1600 — First dedicated laboratory
*1608 — [[Astronomy:History of the telescope|Telescope]] invented in the Netherlands
*1620 — ''[[Philosophy:Novum Organum|Novum Organum]]'' published, ([[Biography:Francis Bacon|Francis Bacon]])
*1637 — First [[Discourse on the Method|Scientific method]] ([[Biography:René Descartes|René Descartes]])
*1638 — Galileo's [[Physics:Two New Sciences|Two New Sciences]] published, containing two [[Thought experiment|thought experiment]]s, namely [[Physics:Galileo's Leaning Tower of Pisa experiment|Galileo's Leaning Tower of Pisa experiment]] and [[Physics:Galileo's ship|Galileo's ship]], which are intended to disprove existing physical theories by showing that they have contradictory consequences.
*1650 — Society of experts (the Royal Society)
*1650 — Experimental evidence established as the arbiter of truth (the Royal Society)
*1665 — [[Repeatability]] established ([[Biography:Robert Boyle|Robert Boyle]])
*1665 — [[Scientific journal|Scholarly journals]] established
*1675 — Peer review begun
*1687 — Hypothesis/prediction (Isaac Newton)

==18th and 19th centuries==
*1739 — [[Biography:David Hume|David Hume]]'s ''Treatise of Human Nature'' argues that the [[Problem of induction|problem of induction]] is unsolvable.
*1753 — First description of a controlled experiment using identical populations with only one variable: James Lind's research into [[Medicine:Scurvy|Scurvy]] among sailors.<ref>James Lind's ''A Treatise of the Scurvy''</ref>
*1763 — Reverend [[Biography:Thomas Bayes|Thomas Bayes]] published ''An Essay towards solving a Problem in the Doctrine of Chances'' laying the basis for [[Bayesian inference]], a method of inference used to update the probability estimate for a hypothesis as additional evidence is acquired.
*1812 — The formulation by [[Biography:Hans Christian Ørsted|Hans Christian Ørsted]] of the Latin-German mixed term ''Gedankenexperiment'' (lit. experiment conducted in the thoughts, or [[Thought experiment|thought experiment]]). Although the method had been in use by philosophers since antiquity.
*1815 — An [[Optimal design|optimal design]] for [[Polynomial regression|polynomial regression]] is published by Joseph Diaz Gergonne.
*1833 - [[Biography:William Whewell|William Whewell]] invents the term [[Scientist|scientist]]. They had previously been known as ''natural philosophers'' or ''men of science''.
*1840 - [[Biography:William Whewell|William Whewell]] in ''Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences'' coins the term "[[Consilience|consilience]]" the principle that evidence from independent, unrelated sources can "converge" to strong conclusions. 
*1877–1878 — [[Biography:Charles Sanders Peirce|Charles Sanders Peirce]] publishes "Illustrations of the Logic of Science", popularizing his trichotomy of [[Abductive reasoning|Abduction]], [[Deductive reasoning|Deduction]] and [[Philosophy:Inductive reasoning|Induction]]. <!-- in the last article of the series, where he uses "hypothesis" rather than "abduction" or "retroduction" and cites his earlier paper --> Peirce explains [[Randomization|randomization]] as a basis for [[Statistical inference|statistical inference]].
*1885 — [[Biography:Charles Sanders Peirce|C. S. Peirce]] with [[Biography:Joseph Jastrow|Joseph Jastrow]] first describes blinded, [[Randomized experiment|randomized experiment]]s, which become established in psychology.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Ian |last=Hacking|   title=Telepathy: Origins of Randomization in Experimental Design|journal=Isis|volume=79|issue=3: A Special Issue on Artifact and Experiment|date=September 1988 |pages=427–451|jstor=234674 | mr = 1013489| doi=10.1086/354775}}
{{cite journal| author=[[Biography:Charles Sanders Peirce|Charles Sanders Peirce]] and [[Biography:Joseph Jastrow|Joseph Jastrow]]|year=1885|title=On Small Differences in Sensation| journal=Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=3|pages=73–83|url=http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Peirce/small-diffs.htm}} http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Peirce/small-diffs.htm
<br>
{{cite journal|author=Stephen M. Stigler|title=A Historical View of Statistical Concepts in Psychology and Educational Research| journal=American Journal of Education| volume=101|issue=1|date=November 1992|pages=60–70|doi=10.1086/444032|}}

{{cite journal|author=Trudy Dehue|title=Deception, Efficiency, and Random Groups: Psychology and the Gradual Origination of the Random Group Design|journal=Isis|volume=88|issue=4|date=December 1997|pages=653–673|doi=10.1086/383850|pmid=9519574|url=https://www.rug.nl/research/portal/files/71855616/237831.pdf}}</ref>
*1897 — Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin proposes the use of multiple hypotheses to assist in the design of experiments.

==20th and 21st centuries==
<!-- *1908 — Three kinds of logical reasoning, [[Abductive reasoning|Abduction]], [[Deductive reasoning|Deduction]] and [[Philosophy:Inductive reasoning|Induction]] identified by [[Biography:Charles Sanders Peirce|Charles Sanders Peirce]] (1839-1914) -->
*1905 — [[Biography:Albert Einstein|Albert Einstein]] proposes the Theory of Relativity
*1926 — Randomized design popularized and analyzed by [[Biography:Ronald Fisher|Ronald Fisher]] (following [[Biography:Charles Sanders Peirce|Peirce]])
*1934 — [[Philosophy:Falsifiability|Falsifiability]] as a criterion for evaluating new hypotheses is popularized by [[Biography:Karl Popper|Karl Popper]]'s ''The Logic of Scientific Discovery'' (following [[Biography:Charles Sanders Peirce|Peirce]])
*1937 — Controlled placebo trial
*1946 — First [[Computer simulation|computer simulation]]
*1950 — Double blind experiment
*1962 — Meta study of scientific method ([[Biography:Thomas Kuhn|Thomas Kuhn]]'s ''The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'')
*1964 — [[Strong inference]] proposed by John R. Platt<ref>In ''Strong inference. Certain systematic methods of scientific thinking may produce much more rapid progress than others'' (Science, 16 October 1964, Volume 146, Number 3642, Pages 347-353.)</ref>
*2009 — Adam - First working prototype of a "robot scientist" able to perform independent experiments to test hypotheses and interpret findings without human guidance.
*2012 — [[Unsolved:Constructor theory|Constructor theory]],  a proposal for a new mode of explanation in fundamental physics, was first sketched out by [[Biography:David Deutsch|David Deutsch]].

==See also==

* Artistic research

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:History of scientific method| ]]

{{Sourceattribution|Timeline of the history of scientific method|1}}