The Scientific Method is the process by which man seeks to understand reality, and is perhaps best viewed as a way of eliminating alternative explanations for natural phenomena. It is the thing that unites all sciences, however varied they may seem. As Albert Einstein said:
"All our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike - and yet it is the most precious thing we have."
The Scientific Method, generally speaking, can be broken down into four steps:
- Observation - Observation and description of a phenomenon or group of phenomena.
- Hypothesis - Formulation of an hypothesis to explain the phenomena. In physics, the hypothesis often takes the form of a causal mechanism or a mathematical relation.
- Testing - Performance of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experimenters and properly performed experiments.
- Debate -