The Scientific Method – Biology at Clermont College …

The Scientific Method

For centuries, people based their beliefs on their interpretations of what they saw going on in the world around them without testing their ideas to determine the validity of these theories in other words, they didnt use the scientific method to arrive at answers to their questions. Rather, their conclusions were based on untested observations.

Among these ideas, since at least the time of Aristotle (4th Century BC), people (including scientists) believed that simple living organisms could come into being by spontaneous generation. This was the idea that non-living objects can give rise to living organisms. It was common knowledge that simple organisms like worms, beetles, frogs, amd salamanders could come from dust, mud, etc., and food left out, quickly swarmed with life. For example:

Observation: Every year in the spring, the Nile River flooded areas of Egypt along the river, leaving behind nutrient-rich mud that enabled the people to grow that years crop of food. However, along with the muddy soil, large numbers of frogs appeared that werent around in drier times. Conclusion: It was perfectly obvious to people back then that muddy soil gave rise to the frogs.

Observation: In many parts of Europe, medieval farmers stored grain in barns with thatched roofs (like Shakespeares house). As a roof aged, it was not uncommon for it to start leaking. This could lead to spoiled or moldy grain, and of course there were lots of mice around. Conclusion: It was obvious to them that the mice came from the moldy grain.

Observation: In the cities, there were no sewers nor garbage trucks. Sewage flowed in the gutters along the streets, and the sidewalks were raised above the streets to give people a place to walk. In the intersections, raised stepping stones were strategically placed to allow pedestrians to cross the intersection, yet were spaced such that carriage wheels could pass between them. In the morning, the contents of the chamber pots were tossed out the nearest window. When people were done eating a meal, the bones were tossed out the window, too. A chivalrous gentleman always walked closest to the street when escorting a woman, so if a horse and carriage came by and splashed up this filth, it would land on him, and not the ladys expensive silk gown. Most of these cities also had major rat problems which contributed to the spread of Bubonic Plague (Black Death) hence the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Germany. Conclusion: Obviously, all the sewage and garbage turned into the rats.

Observation: Since there were no refrigerators, the mandatory, daily trip to the butcher shop, especially in summer, meant battling the flies around the carcasses. Typically, carcasses were hung by their heels, and customers selected which chunk the butcher would carve off for them. Conclusion: Obviously, the rotting meat that had been hanging in the sun all day was the source of the flies.

From this came a number of interesting recipes, such as: Recipe for bees: Kill a young bull, and bury it in an upright position so that its horns protrude from the ground. After a month, a swarm of bees will fly out of the corpse.

Jan Baptista van Helmonts recipe for mice: Place a dirty shirt or some rags in an open pot or barrel containing a few grains of wheat or some wheat bran, and in 21 days, mice will appear. There will be adult males and females present, and they will be capable of mating and reproducing more mice.

With the development and refinement of the microscope in the 1600s, people began seeing all sorts of new life forms such as yeast and other fungi, bacteria, and various protists. No one knew from where these organisms came, but people figured out they were associated with things like spoiled broth. This seemed to add new evidence to the idea of spontaneous generation it seemed perfectly logical that these minute organisms should arise spontaneously. When Jean Baptiste Lamarck proposed his theory of evolution, to reconcile his ideas with Aristotles Scala naturae, he proposed that as creatures strive for greater perfection, thus move up the ladder, new organisms arise by spontaneous generation to fill the vacated places on the lower rungs.

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The Scientific Method - Biology at Clermont College ...