Experiments Manual

Science rests on the twin pillars of experiment and theory. An experiment is more than mere collection of data. One should have a credible hypothesis to explain the mass of data. For example, Tycho Brahe, the Danish astronomer, had accumulated a large volume of data on the position of planets in the sky over many years of careful observation. Kepler analyzed this complex maze of data, and deduced three simple laws of planetary motion. Newton then introduced the hypothesis of attraction between two masses, inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two, and showed that all three laws of motion followed as natural consequences of this hypothesis. This is the path taken by any scientific discovery.

Science rests on the twin pillars of experiment and theory. An experiment is more than mere collection of data. One should have a credible hypothesis to explain the mass of data. For example, Tycho Brahe, the Danish astronomer, had accumulated a large volume of data on the position of planets in the sky over many years of careful observation. Kepler analyzed this complex maze of data, and deduced three simple laws of planetary motion. Newton then introduced the hypothesis of attraction between two masses, inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two, and showed that all three laws of motion followed as natural consequences of this hypothesis. This is the path taken by any scientific discovery.