Researched
Scientific Method
Hypothesis, experiment, measurement, replication: knowledge is no longer believed but tested.
Open in the interactive tree →Ibn al-Haytham (~1011-1021) tested optical theories systematically by experiment; Francis Bacon described induction in 1620; Galileo combined measurement with mathematics. What matters is that others can check the result. The method made knowledge cumulative and led to Newton, modern chemistry and medicine.
Prerequisites
- Philosophy~585 BC
- Geometry (Euclid)~300 BCIbn al-Haytham's experimental optics was built on Euclid's geometry as its model of proof
- Baghdad Translation Movement~800Ibn al-Haytham's experimental optics grew from the Arabic science tradition
- Universities1088
- Printing Press~1450
Unlocks
- Falling Bodies & Planet Orbits1609
- Boyle's Sceptical Chymist1661
- Scientific Societies & Journals1665
- Redi refutes maggots from meat1668
- Stratigraphy (Steno)1669
- Steam Engine1712
- Enlightenment & Encyclopedia1715-1789
- Crop rotation (Norfolk system)~1730
- Linnaeus and classification1735
- Photosynthesis discovered1779
- Geology and deep time1788
- Modern Chemistry (Lavoisier)1789
- Vaccination1796
- Evolution by natural selection1859
- Psychology as a science1879
- Falsifiability (Popper)1934
- Peer Review & Research Bodies1945-1975
- AI as Research Partner2025-2026
- Replication Crisisopen