Science, to use the term correctly, isn’t a body of knowledge or a bunch of facts written up on a whiteboard by a crazy-haired professor. It’s a method, or way of figuring out things. Thinking and reading and learning from experts are all important, sure. But real science relies on experimentation.
First, make an educated guess about how something works. Then design an experiment to test your guess. (I’m oversimplifying here. Designing the correct experiment takes genius and inspiration.) Collect your data carefully, and see if you were right. Then do it again, and again.
Ideally, your experiments and conclusions are written up and published in what are called “peer-reviewed journals,” where fair-minded and educated people review your work to make sure it’s up to par. Then it’s published, and other scientists can see what you’ve done. Your experiments can be repeated and tweaked, maybe confirmed or refuted. In time, the body of what’s become known as “accepted scientific knowledge” grows. And voilà, we’ve landed a man on the moon, unlocked the secrets of the atom, or turned HIV into a treatable infection.
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