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== Overview ==
The scientific method is the process by which [[science]] is carried out.<ref name="allTheSciences">{{harvp|Gauch|2003|p=xv}}: "The thesis of this book, as outlined in Chapter One, is that there are general principles applicable to all the sciences."</ref> As in other areas of inquiry, science (through the scientific method) can build on previous knowledge, and can unify understanding of its topics of study over time.{{efn|name=unification|1= The topics of study, as expressed in the vocabulary of its scientists, are approached by a "single unified method".<ref name= cowles />{{rp|pp.8,13,33-35,60}} The topics are [[Unification (computer science)|unified]] by its predicates, in a system of expressions. The unification process was formalized by [[Jacques Herbrand]] in 1930.<ref name= herbrand >Maribel Fernández [https://nms.kcl.ac.uk/maribel.fernandez/papers/slides-TCS-SOUP.pdf (Dec 2007) Unification Algorithms]</ref>}} This model can be seen to underlie the [[scientific revolution]].<ref name="lindberg2007">{{harvp|Lindberg|2007|pp=2–3}}: "There is a danger that must be avoided. ... If we wish to do justice to the historical enterprise, we must take the past for what it was. And that means we must resist the temptation to scour the past for examples or precursors of modern science. ...My concern will be with the beginnings of scientific ''theories'', the methods by which they were formulated, and the uses to which they were put; ... "</ref>
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