Question

Using the development of the atomic model.explain how scientists refine and build off each other’s findings, in order to develop a theory.

Answer 1

The Atomic Model was something that was first developed by Neils Bohr. Several years later, Schrodinger took Bohr's basis of a theory and developed it into something larger. So as we can see, theories are a bit like puzzles. When first starting out, one person develops something, or has an idea on something. Others trying to either prove or disprove the original findings, will then test things in a new way, revealing more and more of the puzzle. As the puzzle becomes more and more clear, there is more and more that is revealed. Eventually, we get to a point where we have almost the entire picture, however we are still missing a few key pieces that complete the puzzle. We can see the big picture, but you can not exactly prove out what exactly the details are. This is how scientists such as Bohr and Schrodinger use each others research to build and refine theories. Eventually, we reach a point where we are only missing maybe one or two pieces, and at that point, a theory transitions into almost fact, such as evolution.