<P> Ørsted's "First Introduction to General Physics" (1811) exemplified the steps of observation, hypothesis, deduction and experiment . In 1805, based on his researches on electromagnetism Ørsted came to believe that electricity is propagated by undulatory action (i.e., fluctuation). By 1820, he felt confident enough in his beliefs that he resolved to demonstrate them in a public lecture, and in fact observed a small magnetic effect from a galvanic circuit (i.e., voltaic circuit), without rehearsal; </P> <P> In 1831 John Herschel (1792--1871) published A Preliminary Discourse on the study of Natural Philosophy, setting out the principles of science . Measuring and comparing observations was to be used to find generalisations in "empirical laws", which described regularities in phenomena, then natural philosophers were to work towards the higher aim of finding a universal "law of nature" which explained the causes and effects producing such regularities . An explanatory hypothesis was to be found by evaluating true causes (Newton's "vera causae") derived from experience, for example evidence of past climate change could be due to changes in the shape of continents, or to changes in Earth's orbit . Possible causes could be inferred by analogy to known causes of similar phenomena . It was essential to evaluate the importance of a hypothesis; "our next step in the verification of an induction must, therefore, consist in extending its application to cases not originally contemplated; in studiously varying the circumstances under which our causes act, with a view to ascertain whether their effect is general; and in pushing the application of our laws to extreme cases ." </P> <P> William Whewell (1794--1866) regarded his History of the Inductive Sciences, from the Earliest to the Present Time (1837) to be an introduction to the Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences (1840) which analyzes the method exemplified in the formation of ideas . Whewell attempts to follow Bacon's plan for discovery of an effectual art of discovery . He named the hypothetico - deductive method (which Encyclopædia Britannica credits to Newton); Whewell also coined the term scientist . Whewell examines ideas and attempts to construct science by uniting ideas to facts . He analyses induction into three steps: </P> <Ol> <Li> the selection of the fundamental idea, such as space, number, cause, or likeness </Li> <Li> a more special modification of those ideas, such as a circle, a uniform force, etc . </Li> <Li> the determination of magnitudes </Li> </Ol>

Who was most responsible for developing the scientific method