ASTRON 0089 Chapter : Astronomy Book Notes
16 Nov 2013
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Chapter 1: predicting the motions of the stars, sun, and moon. *astronomy is both an ancient cultural practice and a cutting-edge science. Scientific method: the approach used by scientists to explore physical reality that is based fundamentally on observation, logic, and skepticism. Note: the scientific method requires that our ideas about the world be consistent with what we actually observe. Hypothesis: a collection of testable ideas that seem to explain what is observed about physical reality. It is in developing a hypothesis that scientists are their most creative, imaginative, and intuitive. The scientist uses logic to work out the implications of the hypothesis and to make predictions that can be tested. A hypothesis is on firm ground only after it has accurately forecast the results of new experiments or observations. Theory: a body of related and rigorously tested hypotheses that can be pieced together to form a larger, self-consistent description of nature.
