Abstract
Abstract Chapter 1 begins with a broad definition of science and then describes in detail how it functions. Of prime importance is that science is strictly concerned with natural phenomena, explanations of which must be based solely on nature. The need for testing is emphasized. The four elements common to all science are specified: facts, hypotheses, laws, and theories. Data do not become facts until the experimental results are verified, while even so-called facts are seen initially to be provisional because they can be wrong, examples of which are presented. Laws are identified as empirically based. The “if, then” aspect of hypotheses is illustrated by four examples, and it is shown how a hypothesis can become a theory. Special attention is focused on the word theory, whose scientific meaning is so different from its everyday usage. To help clarify this, two similar scientific definitions of theory are presented.
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