science

Steps in the Scientific Tradition

Steps in the Scientific Tradition is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Steps in the Scientific Tradition rather than just read about it. In short: Steps in the Scientific Tradition: Readings in the History of Science is a 1968 anthology edited by Richard S. Westfall and Victor E.

Key takeaways

Steps in the Scientific Tradition belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Steps in the Scientific Tradition to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Steps in the Scientific Tradition from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Steps in the Scientific Tradition: Readings in the History of Science is a 1968 anthology edited by Richard S. Westfall and Victor E. Thoren.

Summary The book is an anthology of primary source readings. The editors provide biographical sketches and commentary. Authors included are:

Background and publication history Richard S. Westfall (1924–1996) was a historian of the scientific revolution. He wrote Never at Rest: A Biography of Isaac Newton (1980) and several other books. Victor E. Thoren (1935–1991) was a historian of astronomy and the author of The Lord of Uraniborg: A Biography of Tycho Brahe (1990). The two were colleagues in the department of History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University. Steps in the Scientific Tradition was first published in 1968 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Reception Steps in the Scientific Tradition received a positive review from Clifford Maier in Isis, a mixed review from Frank Greenaway in Nature, and a negative review from Science Books: A Quarterly Review. Maier wrote that, as a source book for an introductory course in the history of science, Steps in the Scientific Tradition "has distinct advantages over most others readily available in English": longer readings rather than short excerpts, presented in an order that "may well provoke in a student a sense of the development of the changing scientific patterns of thought". Greenaway reviewed Steps in the Scientific Tradition alongside The Science of Matter: a Historical Survey, edited by Maurice P. Crosland. He considered the Westfall and Thoren book less suitable than the Crosland book for use as a textbook. He wrote that, while it may be "an excellent thing" for a student to read historically important passages such as the thirty-first query in Newton's Opticks, the note introducing each passage "only sketches lightly the intellectual situation in respect of one problem or contemporary question". He suggested that the editors ought to have provided explanation for their choice of passages and other guidance to teachers. Science Books: A Quarterly Review rated the book "Not Recommended". The reviewer found the introductory notes "superficial and perfunctory" and the quality of the translations "deplorable". The reviewer wrote, "It is wholly unnecessary that a student read Ptolemy or Descartes in cumbersome mid-19th century British English, as presented in this book."

References

Sources Fountain, Henry (1 September 1996). "Richard Westfall Dies at 72; Wrote Biography of Newton". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 March 2021. Gingerich, Owen (May 1997). "Richard S. Westfall". Journal for the History of Astronomy. 28: 184. Bibcode:1997JHA....28..184G. doi:10.1177/002182869702800217. S2CID 125965437. Greenaway, Frank (March 1972). "History of Science" (PDF). Nature. 236 (5340): 40. Bibcode:1972Natur.236...40G. doi:10.1038/236040a0. S2CID 4209636. Maier, Clifford (October 1969). "Book Reviews". Isis. 60 (3): 398–399. doi:10.1086/350514. "509: History of Science". Science Books: A Quarterly Review. 4: 182. 1968. ISSN 0036-8253. Voelkel, James Robert (September 1992). "Obituary: Victor E. Thoren, 1935-1991". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 24 (4): 1334. Bibcode:1992BAAS...24.1334V. Westfall, Richard S.; Thoren, Victor E., eds. (1968). Steps in the Scientific Tradition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 9780471935407. Westfall, Richard S. (August 1991). "Victor E. Thoren (1935–1991)". Journal for the History of Astronomy. 22 (3): 253–254. Bibcode:1991JHA....22..253W. doi:10.1177/002182869102200312. ISSN 0021-8286. S2CID 125548680.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Steps in the Scientific Tradition

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Steps in the Scientific Tradition claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Steps in the Scientific Tradition before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Steps in the Scientific Tradition ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Steps in the Scientific Tradition

In research: Steps in the Scientific Tradition appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Steps in the Scientific Tradition in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Steps in the Scientific Tradition is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1968 books, Books about the history of science, Wiley (publisher) books, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Steps in the Scientific Tradition outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Steps in the Scientific Tradition in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Steps in the Scientific Tradition means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Steps in the Scientific Tradition out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Steps in the Scientific Tradition in simple terms?

Steps in the Scientific Tradition: Readings in the History of Science is a 1968 anthology edited by Richard S. Westfall and Victor E.

Why does Steps in the Scientific Tradition matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Steps in the Scientific Tradition?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Steps in the Scientific Tradition.