ONSCIENTIFIC METHOD ( Part 2)by Percy W.Bridgman Hencethe necessity for checking his results always inheres in what the scientistdoes.
It is not sufficient to trust the word of his neighbor, but that if hewants to be sure, he must be able to check a result for himself. Hence thescientist is the enemy of all authoritarianism. Furthermore, he finds that heoften makes mistakes himself and he must learn how to guard against them.. Allthese things together give that "objectivity" to science which isoften thought to be the essence of the scientific method. But tothe working scientist himself all this appears obvious and trite. What appearsto him as the essence of the situation is that he is not consciously followingany prescribed course of action, but feels complete freedom to utilize anymethod or device whatever which in the particular situation before him seemslikely to yield the correct answer. In his attack on his specific problem hesuffers no inhibitions of precedent or authority, but is completely free to adoptany course that his ingenuity is capable of suggesting to him. No one standingon the outside can predict what the
individual scientist will do or what methodhe will follow. In short, science is what
scientists do, and there are as manyscientific methods as there are individual scientists.