Act Of Discovery
Learning from mistakes
The following makes the third instalment of Dr. M Ali Asgar's original article titled "Establishment of an Interactive science discovery centre in Asia-Pacific region."
From all that we come to know from the expressed opinions of the scientists and writers of scientific method, it appears that no method of scientific discovery has been discovered. In reality scientific method is what working scientist do and not what other people or even the scientists say about it.
For the working scientist the essence of the situation is that he does not know for sure that any prescribed course of action which give him the solution, he therefore, must feel completely free to use any method or device that will give correct solution. No one standing on the outside can predict what the individual scientist will do or what method he will follow in his act of discovery. This it is rightly said that science in what scientist do and there are as many scientific methods as there individual scientists.
This is because scientific discovery is one of those highly complex and subtle activities that usually remain quite unformulated in the minds of those who practice them but it does not mean that some lessons and general principles can not be learnt from the experience of others. In science we learn from mistakes, therefore, instead of learning from our own mistakes only, we can learn as well from the mistakes made be others. Training in research although largely is self training, should preferable by carried out with the guidance of an experienced scientist in the handling of the actual investigation. Training in scientific discovery is not authoritarian and is much more than merely being told how to do a job. It is more like creating a favorable environment of positive inspiration and constructive criticism through interaction.
To be continued
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