Re: physical pendulums/ an opportunity

[Lois Breur Krause <krause@CLEMSON.EDU>]

> > > Why does one need a hypothesis?
> >
> > to help define a question.  defining the question helps the researcher to
> > design an experiment from which he can obtain meaningful results.
>
> Have you ever observed a phenomenon without forming a hypothesis?
> Are you so insensitive to the outside world that you have never
> said to yourself, on observing something interesting, "Now, why
> does that happen?" That is a well defined question. Much science
> is done (especially by astronomers who don't have the luxury of
> being able to adjust parameters) in just that way.
>
> Science is not exclusively hypothesis testing.
>
> Leigh

YES, often, but in order to answer the question, "Now, why does that
happen?" you have to have some clue or guess to try to figure it out.  that
guess is the hypothesis.  if you have absolutely NO IDEA what causes an
observed event to occur, you'd have no way to begin to try something to
replicate it or even construct a thought experiment to figure it out.

Lois