- When and at what meeting did physicists decide that they must use
the scientific method in their research and not use Newtonian Mechanics?
- When did physicists decide to use the scientific method only for
exploring the physical universe?
What was covered in our science classes in middle school and high school, apparently stems from the report of a survey of University of Michigan scientists done by Oreon Keeslar back in 1945. Keeslar was just aiming for a list of things scientists commonly do when conducting experiments. Science textbook writers turned the survey results into the rigid step-by-step methodology that has been cast about ever since. While I’ve found social scientists try to follow “The Scientifiic Method,” scientists don’t follow such a rigid step-by-step approach. Their work will involve many of the steps, but not necessarily in that order.
These two items might help:
McComas, William F. “The principal elements of the nature of science: Dispelling the myths.” The nature of science in science education. Springer Netherlands, 2002. 53-70.
Keeslar, O. (1945). ‘A survey of research studies dealing with the elements of scientific method’, Science Education, (29), 212-216.
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The context in which the user is asking the question is important in understanding exactly what resources would be helpful.
Thomas Kuhn’s ‘The Structure of Scientific Revolutions’ explores the development of science from a philosophy of science perspective – asserting that ‘science enjoys periods of stable growth punctuated by revisionary revolutions’
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/thomas-kuhn/
The classic anti-method work is:
Against method. Feyerabend, Paul, 1924-1994. (Author)
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The question was from an emeritus professor who is not a physicist. This afternoon I did a little more research and found that physicists had a debate at LMU Munich in 2015 about the scientific method (https://www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-and-philosophers-debate-the-boundaries-of-science-20151216/ and https://www.whytrustatheory2015.philosophie.uni-muenchen.de/index.html). Perhaps this is what the professor is referring to regarding a meeting among physicists about the scientific method. It’s a guess on my part, so I welcome further input if anyone has any.
Perhaps you’re looking for the 1927 Fifth Solvay International Conference on Electrons and Protons:
https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/solvay-conference-probably-intelligent-picture-ever-taken-1927/
This conference was also the culmination of the struggle between Einstein and the scientific realists, who wanted strict rules of scientific method as laid out by Charles Peirce and Karl Popper, versus Bohr and the instrumentalists, who wanted looser rules based on outcomes. Starting at this point, the instrumentalists won, instrumentalism having been seen as the norm ever since.
https://partyof12.com/2014/12/07/einstein-in-copenhagen/
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Interesting query.
Regarding 1, I’d stress two things: a) the scientific method and
Newtonian mechanics are not mutually exclusive; they’re not even the
same sort of animal. Newtonian mechanics is a theory — that is, a
formal, precise model of some aspect of the universe. The scientific
method is, well, a methodology — a tool to arrive at theories and
other results. b) Again showing that the two are not in opposition:
Physicists still very much use use Newtonian mechanics, within its
realm of applicability (speeds much less than speed of light,
macroscopic systems). And the scientific method has been in use since
long before alternatives to Newtonian mechanics (such as relativity)
came up in the eary 20th century.
Regard 2 (but also 1), there is no unique date for the adoption of the
scientific method, if only because practitioners of science don’t all
use the same methods in unison. On the one hand, the scientiic method
has been in use since at least the 17th centry (e.g. by Galileo:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_scientific_method#Galileo_Galilei)
On the other hand, the scientific method is *not* in use by *all*
practicioners even today (it is ignored by the proponents of
scientific creationism, for example). So it was really a gradual
change, not something that scientists decided on at some meeting.
The reference to Newtonian mechanics makes me think that perhaps the
query has to do with when and how physicists decided that Newtonian
mechanics is not always applicable. Surely then the answer must be in
the early 20th century, with the (relatively quick) acceptance of
Einstein’s theories of relativity and the founding of quantum
mechanics. There was not single “aha” moment, but between 1905 and
1925 the picture changed dramatically. But before then, many theories
were created to complement Newtonian mechanics, and like it they are
still valid in their realm of application: wave optics,
electromagnestism, quantitative chemistry, …
To recommend some reading it would be helpful to know a bit more about
whoever asked the question, especially their background. A student, a
member of the general public, a journalist, …?
Nest wishes,
Silvio
Silvio Levy
Librarian Emeritus, MSRI
Director of Publications, Mathematical Sciences Publisher