<Tr> <Td> Ibn al - Haytham (Alhazen), 965--1039 Iraq . A polymath, considered by some to be the father of modern scientific methodology, due to his emphasis on experimental data and reproducibility of its results . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Johannes Kepler (1571--1630). "Kepler shows his keen logical sense in detailing the whole process by which he finally arrived at the true orbit . This is the greatest piece of Retroductive reasoning ever performed ."--C. S. Peirce, c. 1896, on Kepler's reasoning through explanatory hypotheses </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Galileo Galilei (1564--1642). According to Albert Einstein, "All knowledge of reality starts from experience and ends in it . Propositions arrived at by purely logical means are completely empty as regards reality . Because Galileo saw this, and particularly because he drummed it into the scientific world, he is the father of modern physics--indeed, of modern science altogether ." </Td> </Tr> <P> The scientific method is the process by which science is carried out . As in other areas of inquiry, science (through the scientific method) can build on previous knowledge and develop a more sophisticated understanding of its topics of study over time . This model can be seen to underlay the scientific revolution . One thousand years ago, Alhazen argued the importance of forming questions and subsequently testing them, an approach which was advocated by Galileo in 1638 with the publication of Two New Sciences . The current method is based on a hypothetico - deductive model formulated in the 20th century, although it has undergone significant revision since first proposed (for a more formal discussion, see below). </P>

The acid test for scientific method according to watson is that the method