Although encyclopedias such as Pliny's (fl. 77 AD)
Natural History
offered purported fact, they proved unreliable. A skeptical point of
view, demanding a method of proof, was the practical position taken to
deal with unreliable knowledge. As early as 1000 years ago, scholars
such as
Alhazen (
Doubts Concerning Ptolemy),
Roger Bacon,
Witelo,
John Pecham, Francis Bacon (1605), and
C. S. Peirce (1839–1914) provided the
community to address these points of uncertainty. In particular, fallacious reasoning can be exposed, such as "
affirming the consequent."
"If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if
he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties."
The methods of
inquiry into a problem have been known for thousands of years,
[95] and extend beyond theory to practice. The use of
measurements, for example, is a practical approach to settle disputes in the community.
John Ziman points out that
intersubjective pattern recognition is fundamental to the creation of all scientific knowledge.
[96]:p44
Ziman shows how scientists can identify patterns to each other across
centuries; he refers to this ability as "perceptual consensibility."
[97]:p46 He then makes consensibility, leading to consensus, the touchstone of reliable knowledge.
[97]:p104
Basic and applied research
Although some scientific research is
applied research into specific problems, a great deal of our understanding comes from the curiosity-driven undertaking of
basic research.
This leads to options for technological advance that were not planned
or sometimes even imaginable. This point was made by Michael Faraday
when allegedly in response to the question "what is the
use of basic research?" he responded: "Sir, what is the use of a new-born child?".
[98] For example, research into the effects of red light on the human eye's
rod cells did not seem to have any practical purpose; eventually, the discovery that our
night vision is not troubled by red light would lead
search and rescue teams (among others) to adopt red light in the cockpits of jets and helicopters.
[87]:106–110
In a nutshell, basic research is the search for knowledge and applied
research is the search for solutions to practical problems using this
knowledge. Finally, even basic research can take unexpected turns, and
there is some sense in which the scientific method is built to
harness luck.
Research in practice
Due to the increasing complexity of information and specialization of
scientists, most of the cutting-edge research today is done by
well-funded groups of scientists, rather than individuals.
[99]
D.K. Simonton notes that due to the breadth of very precise and far
reaching tools already used by researchers today and the amount of
research generated so far, creation of new disciplines or revolutions
within a discipline may no longer be possible as it is unlikely that
some phenomenon that merits its own discipline has been overlooked.
Hybridizing of disciplines and finessing knowledge is, in his view, the
future of science.
[99]
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