COMPUTATION AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR A NONEXISTENT THEORY, AND DATA FREE EMPIRICISM

摘要

1. INTRODUCTION Science has been classified into three levels of credibility by A. Zichichi. Class 1 science is identified by controlled experiments to test a theory that frames the experimental questions. The two work closely together in steps guiding each other. Class 2 is not the domain of controlled experiment but observation of what is, uncontrolled. Uncontrolled observations are not equivalent to measurements extracted from controlled experiment. Astrophysics is an example of such science. While one cannot do controlled experiments on a distant star, there are many different stars from which observations can be sought to partially test hypotheses. Finally, there is Class 3 which has neither experiments nor observations from many realizations because there is simply only one realization available. The Big Bang is the natural example--one Universe, one Big Bang. These are all legitimate forms of science, but the confidence we place in them is not equivalent for good reason.