i8 WHY WE STUDY SCIENCE 



feet, and therefore you will want a rug not larger than 

 eight feet by ten feet. You have estimated the size, but 

 you may be wrong. You compare it with some room with 

 which you are familiar in your own house. Yes, it seems 

 to be about ten feet by twelve feet in size, but you decide 

 it will be better to measure it. So you get a tape measure 

 and you find that you were practically correct. You have 

 verified your conclusion. In other words you have followed 

 the method of scientific thought. You have estimated the 

 size, compared it with other rooms, and reached a conclu- 

 sion; you measured it, and found you were correct. 



The habit of scientific thinking. If we use this method 

 at all times we shall acquire a habit of mind that will be very 

 useful in later life. This method teaches us to be accurate 

 in our judgment. It teaches us to observe. It teaches 

 us not to accept a statement without evidence. It teaches 

 us to weigh the evidence, then draw our conclusions and 

 finally to verify our conclusions. This habit of mind is 

 worth much more than any number of facts that this book 

 can give. 



How we use this method in our home work. We get 

 out of life just about what we put into it. Each one of us 

 will get just as much from the method of science in this 

 course as we are willing to work out with enthusiasm. 

 In any event, boys and girls taking a course in general sci- 

 ence will get a great deal of valuable information which 

 will be useful during life. Much of the information will 

 be found in this book and in other books which are suggested 

 in the reference lists. But the method of doing things we 

 must learn outside the reading books. To work out home 

 problems or projects with such simple apparatus as is 

 needed to draw conclusions, is far more profitable than 



