Protoscience
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Protoscience is a word with two meanings. It may mean an unscientific field of study which later becomes a science (e.g. astrology becoming astronomy and alchemy becoming chemistry). Or, it may mean a field of study which appears to conform to the scientific method but is either not falsifiable, or if it is, its predictions and principles have not yet been accepted as science or verified by a consensus of scientists.
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Historical perspective
Some protosciences become mainstream science.
- Alchemy has become chemistry.
- Astrology evolved into Astronomy. (cf. Johannes Kepler)
The philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn used the word in an essay published in 1974:
- "...there are many fields - I shall call them proto-sciences - in which practice does generate testable conclusions but which nevertheless resemble philosophy and the arts rather than the establish sciences in their developmental patterns. I think, for example, of fields like chemistry and electricity before the mid-eighteenth century, of the study of heredity and phylogeny before the mid-nineteenth, or of many of the social sciences today. In these fields, too, though they satisfy Sir Kral's demarcation criterion, incessant critism and continual striving for a fresh start are primary forces, and need to be. No more than in philosophy and the arts, however, do they result in clear-cut progress.
- "I conclude, in short, that the proto-sciences, like the arts and philosophy, lack some element which, in the mature sciences, permits the more obvious forms of progress. It is not, however, anything that a methodological prescription can provide....I claim no therapy to assist the transformation of a proto-science to a science, nor do I suppose anything of this sort is to be had." (Kuhn, 1974, p. 245)[1]
Examples of protosciences
- Main article: List of protosciences
The most famous modern example of protosciences might be the theory of continental drift as originally proposed by Alfred Wegener (which eventually became an accepted scientific model when the mechanisms of plate tectonics became understood). Other examples include:
- The various string theories of physics.
- The cognitive science of mathematics.
- Abiogenesis, the hypothesis and theories concerning the natural production of living material from nonliving material.
- Astrobiology or Exobiology, the protoscientific study of extraterrestrial life forms, including speculation on alternative biochemistries.
- Neurotheology, the study that analyzes the biological basis of spirituality.
- Xenoarchaeology, the study of alien cultures from their material remains
Footnotes
- ^ Retrieved on May 19, 2006 from this page (pdf): [1]; HTML version from Google
See also
- Philosophy of science
- Falsifiability
- Pathological science
- Fringe science
- Obsolete scientific theories
- Emergent philosophy
- List of alternative, speculative and disputed theories
