Abstract
In this essay, I argue that modern science is not the dichotomous pairing of theory and experiment that it is typically presented as, and I offer an alternative paradigm defined by its functions as a human endeavor. I also demonstrate how certain scientific debates, such as the debate over the nature of the quantum state, can be partially resolved by this new paradigm.
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Notes
- 1.
Abū ‘Alī al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Haytham (965 CE—c. 1040 CE), also known as Ibn al-Haytham and sometimes al-Basri.
- 2.
The term ‘hypothetico-deductive’ has been attributed to William Whewell, though evidence for this is lacking as the term does not appear in any of his works on the inductive sciences.
- 3.
The history of the Royal Society is tightly linked with a number of organizations that arose in the mid–17th century including Académie Monmor, the Académie des sciences, and Gresham College [4].
- 4.
The ideas for the present essay were in large part developed as a rejoinder to Lehrer prior to his resignation from the New Yorker after admitting to fabricating quotes. That incident should have no bearing on what is written and discussed here.
- 5.
This is not necessarily the same thing as sequential, as is clearly demonstrated by certain quantum states.
- 6.
Robert Hooke famously claimed priority in the formulation of the inverse square law, but, as Alexis Clairaut wrote in 1759 concerning this dispute, there is a difference “between a truth that is glimpsed and a truth that is demonstrated” (quoted and translated in [3]).
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Acknowledgments
The ideas discussed in this essay were tested on a few unsuspecting audiences over the course of a little more than a month. Thus, for helping me feel my way through these ideas, I would like to thank the following for giving me a pulpit from which to preach: the Clemson University Symposium for Introduction to Research in Physics and Astronomy (SIRPA); the Kennebunk Free Library’s ‘Astronomy Nights,’ co-hosted by the Astronomical Society of Northern New England; and the Saint Anselm College Philosophy Club.
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Durham, I.T. (2015). Rethinking the Scientific Enterprise: In Defense of Reductionism. In: Aguirre, A., Foster, B., Merali, Z. (eds) Questioning the Foundations of Physics. The Frontiers Collection. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13045-3_18
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