Themes of the Day:

• The Scientific Method in Geology

The Scientific Method in Geology - Drawn as a flow chart in class

• Observation
• Defining a Problem
• Creating a Hypothesis (educated guess)
• Testing the Hypothesis - direct tests in geology often hindered by issues of TIME and SCALE
  • By Experiments
  • By Modelling (where Time and Scale preclude direct testing)
  • By Evaluating Predictions
• Analyze Results of Tests
  • If tests confirm hypothesis - Go out and celebrate on Friday night. On Monday devise another test.
  • If tests refute hypothesis - Drown your sorrows on Friday night. Work through the weekend. Either scrap or modify hypothesis. Back to square one.
• Theory results from widely accepted, time-tested hypothesis (often applied to a group of related hypotheses)
• Laws and proofs are for math and physics - rarely encountered in geology.
• Paradigms - model of reality - a framework of hypotheses and theories that represent the best synthesis of the current understanding of a science
• Publish or Perish. For a couple of really insightful essays on the scientific method, take the time to read Whatever Happened to Cold Fusion? and How Science Works (PDF format) by David Goodstein. On a lighter note, here's a guide on How To Write A Scientific Paper from the Annals of Improbable Research (AIR).