The Scientific Method Does not Exist

There are no techniques or procedures for making discoveries in science reliably.

Karl Popper in his lecture, Scientific Method:

Consider Max Planck. Max Planck was surely one of the greatest German physicists, and probably one of the greatest physicists of all time. But Planck made only one great discovery in theoretical physics. In 1900, or thereabouts, he discovered what is called ‘the quantum of action’, which is the basis of quantum theory and of all atomic theory. Planck lived for nearly 50 years after he made this discovery. But he never made another one. He made very interesting contributions to scientific discussions, and he wrote very interesting books. But he made no further scientific discovery, although he surely tried. Now either Planck had forgotten his scientific method after he made his discovery, or he made his discovery by chance and without using scientific method at all. But in either case, the example of Planck just does not fit the usual idea of scientific method. And Planck is just one example among many.

Albert Einstein, who was certainly one of the greatest physicists of all time, is another. Einstein made several important discoveries. He discovered the theories of both general and special relativity. And he won the Nobel Prize in 1921 for his discovery of the photoelectric law. But Einstein did not solve the problem that was closest to his heart—the so-called problem of unified field theory —even though he worked on it for forty years. If there were something like a scientific method, then Einstein would surely have mastered it and would surely have solved the problem of unified field theory. So the thing isn’t really like that.

See also: Fallibilism