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.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Additional Readings
Ager, D. (1993). The new catastrophism: The importance of the rare event in geological history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Alley, R. B. (2000). The two-mile time machine. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Appenzeller, T., & Dimick, D. R. (2004, September). The heat is on. National Geographic, 12–75.
Badash, L. (2001). Nuclear winter: Scientists in the political arena. Perspectives in Physics, 3, 76–105.
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.
Cohen, M., & Ernest, N. (1934). An introduction to logic and scientific method (p. 375). New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company.
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.
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.
Hansen, J. R., et al. (2002). Global warming continues. Science, 295(5553), 275. doi:10.1126/science.295.5553.275c.
Hawking, S. (1996). The illustrated a brief history of time (Updated and expanded ed., p. 15). New York: Bantam Books.
Hesketh, I. (2009). Of apes and ancestors: Evolution, Christianity, and the Oxford debate. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-9284-7.
Mayr, E. (1982). The growth of biological thought. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-36446-5.
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.
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.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights 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
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5757-8_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5756-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5757-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)