Examples of discoveries without a hypothesis?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of scientific discoveries made without a prior hypothesis. Participants explore various examples from history and science, questioning the nature of experiments and observations in the absence of a hypothesis.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants question whether discoveries without a hypothesis can be classified as experiments, suggesting they might be mere observations.
  • X-rays are cited as a discovery made without a hypothesis, with Röntgen's work being highlighted.
  • The cosmic microwave background is mentioned as a significant discovery without a prior hypothesis.
  • Antibiotics are discussed, with some participants asserting that their discovery was not based on a hypothesis.
  • Einstein's theories of special and general relativity are presented as examples where experimental evidence preceded theoretical explanations.
  • Superconductivity is noted as another example of discovery without a hypothesis.
  • Newton's observations of gravity are referenced, indicating that the phenomenon was recognized before a formal hypothesis was proposed.
  • Semmelweis's discovery regarding handwashing before treating patients is discussed as a case of significant discovery without a hypothesis.
  • Some participants argue that while discoveries can occur without a hypothesis, the transition from observation to hypothesis is often necessary for scientific advancement.
  • Various inventions and discoveries, such as Bakelite, Rogaine, and artificial sweeteners, are mentioned as examples of accidental discoveries.
  • Neutrinos are noted as having been discovered experimentally after being hypothesized years earlier.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on whether discoveries can occur without hypotheses, with some asserting that it is possible while others argue that a hypothesis is often necessary for classification as an experiment. The discussion remains unresolved, with multiple competing perspectives presented.

Contextual Notes

Some participants highlight the ambiguity in defining what constitutes an experiment versus an observation, and the role of hypotheses in scientific discovery remains a point of contention.

RobertSpencer
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The scientific method is HYPOTHESIS -> EXPERIMENT -> ANALYZE -> CONCLUSION.

There are special cases where there is no HYPOTHESIS.

Can you give some examples of things discovered without giving a HYPOTHESIS?

That is, they do an experiment and they discover something new without a hypothesis?

Any famous examples?
 
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RobertSpencer said:
That is, they do an experiment and they discover something new without a hypothesis?
Hmm, I am not sure. If there is no hypothesis then could what follows be termed an experiment? Wouldn’t it simply be observations and not an experiment?
 
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Dale said:
Hmm, I am not sure. If there is no hypothesis then could what follows be termed an experiment? Wouldn’t it simply be observations and not an experiment?
X-rays hadn't been a hypothesis nor was it in experiment. I think this is a case in which Röntgen simply discovered them. Rutherford's ##\alpha## radiation might be a similar case.
 
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RobertSpencer said:
Any famous examples?
The discovery of the cosmic microwave background.
 
Also antibiotics.
 
Orodruin said:
Also antibiotics.
Just wanted to add Fleming!
 
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Einstein's special relativity -- experimental evidence came first. Einstein explained it after the fact with a theory.

Einstein's general relativity -- Einstein's theory came first, experimental evidence (such as the curvature of the light of stars as it passes the sun) came later.

There's no referee saying that you have to do things in a specific order.
 
Superconductivity.
 
Gravity?
Falling apples had been observed to fall always down not up, for a long time before Newton proposed how that could be.
 
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  • #10
fresh_42 said:
I think this is a case in which Röntgen simply discovered them.
Well, he was doing an experiment at the time regarding cathode ray tubes, and I assume that he had a hypothesis for that experiment. But it certainly had nothing to do with X-rays. So there was an experiment and there was a hypothesis but it was not related to the important discovery. So I am not sure how to classify that.

Orodruin said:
Also antibiotics.
Here there wasn’t an experiment or a hypothesis, just a discovery. So that is a little cleaner.

Edit: I guess what I am saying is that it is clear that you can make discoveries without an experiment, but it is not clear to me that you could have an experiment without a hypothesis.
 
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  • #11
Well you could stick your arm into a pond of hungry piranha to see what happened, but I guess you still would have to start with a hypothesis.
 
  • #12
There was another important discovery, however, in a sort of experiment. Washing hands before treating patients! Unbelievable but true. I think it was Semmelweis who discovered that the rate of postpartum infections significantly dropped, if he washed his hands before helping at birth. By the way against the habits of his time as well as against the opinion of his colleagues. He didn't have a hypothesis as bacteria have been unknown in these days.
 
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  • #13
Isotope effect in superconductors. The paper begins "The existence of a small amount of Hg-198 at the National Bureau of Standards prompted us to investigate its properties as a superconductor"
 
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  • #14
using microwaves to cook food ... GREAT discovery (invention?) but was discovered via a chocolate bar, not a hypothesis.
 
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  • #15
In the examples above (penicillin, microwave cooking, X-rays, ...) the discovery happened without a hypothesis, but a hypothesis followed very rapidly. For example, the step from the observation that the bacteria next to the mold dies to the hypothesis that the mold is killing the bacteria is so obvious after the fact that we may overlook it, but it's still there and needed to take the next step on the way to antibiotics.

Without that step, the observation won't be turn into a breakthrough. An example might be Fizeau observing relativistic velocity addition in 1851. A decade before Maxwell's electrodynamics and without Einstein's insight a half-century later, there was no way to turn it into a useful hypothesis, so it went unnoticed and unexploited.
 
  • #16
Bakelite.
Rogaine.
The pacemaker.
Teflon.
Viagra.

Many artificial sweeteners. (One reason they are so much sweeter than sugar is that it';s easier to discover them by accident that way)
 
  • #18
The Sunlight goes away every day, but it always returns.
People die if they are under water for a while.
Saturn has 'ears'
Beer is good to get a relaxed feeling.
 
  • #20
RobertSpencer said:
The scientific method is HYPOTHESIS -> EXPERIMENT -> ANALYZE -> CONCLUSION.

There are special cases where there is no HYPOTHESIS.

Can you give some examples of things discovered without giving a HYPOTHESIS?

That is, they do an experiment and they discover something new without a hypothesis?

Any famous examples?

You need to look for the “Who Ordered That?” Discoveries.

Superconductivity is one of many examples.

Zz.
 
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  • #21
Muons. Neutrinos.
 
  • #22
Keith_McClary said:
Neutrinos
Neutrinos were experimentally discovered in 1956 and hypothesised in 1931.
 

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