Skip to main content

The Scientific Method and Its Use

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Climate Change Science: A Modern Synthesis
  • 135k Accesses

Abstract

The scientific method is not a linear one-dimensional sequence of events but a three-dimensional approach to solving problems and obtaining answers to questions. A description of the scientific method and examples are given in this chapter. An understanding of the scientific method (or methods) is necessary in order to gain an insight into, and to hopefully gain some appreciation for, what most scientists do and the way they do it, so this chapter deals with the scientific method and how some important scientists have used it to achieve their results. The emphasis is on climate science and climate scientists but other important scientists are mentioned and their results given. Newton’s laws of motion are described and their relationship to climate change is given. Continental drift is introduced and related to climates of the past.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Additional Readings

  • Ager, D. (1993). The new catastrophism: The importance of the rare event in geological history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alley, R. B. (2000). The two-mile time machine. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Appenzeller, T., & Dimick, D. R. (2004, September). The heat is on. National Geographic, 12–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Badash, L. (2001). Nuclear winter: Scientists in the political arena. Perspectives in Physics, 3, 76–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowen, M. (2008). Censoring science: Inside the political attack on Dr. James Hansen and the truth of global warming. New York: Dutton. ISBN 978-0525-95014-1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, M., & Ernest, N. (1934). An introduction to logic and scientific method (p. 375). New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darwin, C. (1859). On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life (p. 502). London: John Murray.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster, G., & Rahmstorf, S. (2011). Global temperature evolution 1979–2010. Environmental Research Letters, 6(2011), 044022 (8 pp). doi:10.1088/1748-9326/6/4/044022.

  • Hansen, J. E., & Lebedeff, S. (1987). Global trends of measured surface air temperature . Journal of Geophysical Research, 92(D11), 13345–13372. Bibcode 1987JGR....9213345H. doi:10.1029/JD092iD11p13345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, J. R., et al. (2002). Global warming continues. Science, 295(5553), 275. doi:10.1126/science.295.5553.275c.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hawking, S. (1996). The illustrated a brief history of time (Updated and expanded ed., p. 15). New York: Bantam Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hesketh, I. (2009). Of apes and ancestors: Evolution, Christianity, and the Oxford debate. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-9284-7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, E. (1982). The growth of biological thought. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-36446-5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schick, T., & Lewis, V. (2002). How to think about weird things: Critical thinking for a new age. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. ISBN 0-7674-2048-9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, G. A., et al. (2006). Present day atmospheric simulations using GISS ModelE: Comparison to in-situ, satellite and reanalysis data. Journal of Climate, 19(2), 153–192. Bibcode 2006JCli…19..153S. doi:10.1175/JCLI3612.1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Farmer, G.T., Cook, J. (2013). The Scientific Method and Its Use. In: Climate Change Science: A Modern Synthesis. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5757-8_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics