Scientists endeavour to describe the natural world. A scientific description of an object or an event is expected to conform to characteristics such as accuracy, completeness, and reliability. Observation leads to description, which is then recorded.
Scientific knowledge classifies objects and events, and is therefore useful because it can be expressed in general statements often based on distinct patterns derived from a more structured scheme of classification. This can be seen in taxonomy of organisms, the Periodic Table of Elements, and the classification of rocks, to name a few examples.
Scientific work also involves phases of exploration. Purposeful investigation involves asking specific questions, followed by the process of seeking for the answers. Instruments are important in scientific investigation. Human perception is extended by instrumentation, allowing us to observe very small and minute objects, all the way to far away objects in space.
Instruments are used to make measurements where data is presented in numerical form. Experiments depend on the measurability of events. Findings from experiments should also be replicable and reproducible. All results of scientific observation and experimentation should be able to be reduced to simplified generalisations.
One of the major goals of science is to explain the facts of nature, and the laws that govern them. A scientific explanation must therefore be convincing and logical. In a nutshell, scientific research is focused on the discovery of patterns of classification for generalisation. When the regularity is profound, it becomes law.
A scientist “observes” the phenomena that occurs. However, this observation may be biased or influenced by his/her previous experience, belief system or knowledge, leading most philosophers to the opinion that scientific observation must be based on a priori knowledge, while avoiding from being influenced by a scientist’s previous experience.
In science, all forms of knowledge are relative and tentative; and is very dependent on new discoveries and new evidence. Even though science is not able to ascertain the ultimate truth, the “scientific method” is seen as the only way to develop knowledge in an objective manner.
A scientific inquiry or research must be based on gathering observable, empirical, and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, as well as the formulation and testing of hypotheses.
The first person to develop a proper scientific method was Ibn al-Haytham (965-1040 AD). The Muslim polymath developed the scientific method after years of effort in proving that light travels in a straight line.
However, we should not consider scientific method as a “fixed prescription” or a “recipe”. Instead, scientific method requires intelligence, imagination and creativity. Each element of the scientific method is subject to peer review to identify possible mistakes. Scientific method is an ongoing cycle, constantly developing more useful, accurate and comprehensive models and methods.
Essentially, the history of the scientific method is the history of science itself. Early philosophers/scientists used various methods to validate their ideas, theories, observations, discoveries, and findings. In the early days of mankind’s civilisation, there are records that implied the basic components of scientific methods.
For example, an Egyptian ancient medical text, the Edwin Smith Papyrus (c. 1600 B.C.) mentions examination, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. Aristotle provided another ingredient for the scientific method, namely empiricism. While Aristotlean science is not empirical in nature, he did bring science closer to being empirical compared to his predecessors, because he proposed both the inductive and deductive methods of inquiry.
After Aristotle, significant developments were made during the height of the Islamic civilisation. Muslim scientists used experimentation and quantification to distinguish between competing scientific theories, set within a generically empirical orientation, as can be seen in the works of Jabir Ibn Hayyan (circa 721-815 AD) and al-Kindi (circa 801-873 AD).
However, it was Ibn al-Haytham who first developed proper experimental scientific methods, who used experimentation and mathematics to obtain the results as seen in his magnum opus, Kitab al-Manazir (Book of Optics). He combined observations, experimentations and rational arguments to support his intromission theory of vision, where rays of light are emitted from the objects rather than the eyes.
Ibn al-Haytham used the same scientific approach to prove that the emission theory of vision as proposed by Ptolemy and Euclid (where the eyes emit rays of light) as well as the intromission theory of vision as proposed by Aristotle (where objects emit physical particles into the eyes) were both wrong.
Ibn al-Haytham’s scientific method was similar to modern scientific method, and consisted of explicit statement of the problem, tied to observation and to proof by experiment; testing and/or criticism of a hypothesis through experimentation; interpretation of data and formulation of a conclusion using mathematics; and, publication of findings.
Al-Biruni (973-1048) expanded the application of scientific method in various fields of science, such as mineralogy, mechanics, astronomy and geography. Al-Biruni emphasised on the importance of repeating experiments in order to prevent systematic errors and random errors, such as errors in instrumentation as well as human errors.
The contributions from these important historical figures in science lay the foundation to the methodology used today in modern science. However, one must remember that science has its limitations, and that its methodology applied in scientific endeavours may not be perfect. What the scientific method does is to provide a certain level of confidence that the knowledge obtained is objective (and therefore, not biased) and has credibility (and therefore, can be trusted).
When scientific knowledge is objective and credible, then it can be regarded as a “tool” to seek the truth in understanding the world that Allah has created. This endeavour may not be easy, as noted by Ibn al-Haytham himself when he wrote: “Truth is sought for its own sake. And those who are engaged upon the quest for anything for its own sake are not interested in other things. Finding the truth is difficult, and the road to it is tough.”
The ultimate truth belongs to Allah, but science at the very least provides a means for us to get closer to the truth. The closer we get to the truth, then the closer we be to the Almighty Creator.