Editing Philosophy of science (section)

===Pre-modern===
The origins of philosophy of science trace back to [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]],<ref>
[[Aristotle]], "[[Prior Analytics]]", Hugh Tredennick (trans.), pp. 181–531 in ''Aristotle, Volume&nbsp;1'', [[Loeb Classical Library]], William Heinemann, London, 1938.
</ref> who distinguished the forms of approximate and exact reasoning, set out the threefold scheme of [[abductive reasoning|abductive]], [[deductive reasoning|deductive]], and [[inductive reasoning|inductive]] inference, and also analyzed reasoning by [[analogy]]. The eleventh century Arab polymath [[Ibn al-Haytham]] (known in Latin as [[Alhazen]]) conducted his research in optics by way of controlled experimental testing and applied [[geometry]], especially in his investigations into the images resulting from the [[Catoptrics|reflection]] and [[Dioptrics|refraction]] of light. [[Roger Bacon]] (1214–1294), an English thinker and experimenter heavily influenced by al-Haytham, is recognized by many to be the father of modern scientific method.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lindberg|first1=David C.|title=Science in the Middle Ages|date=1980|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-48233-0|pages=350–351|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOCriv4rSCUC&q=alhazen+philosophy+of+science&pg=PA351}}</ref> His view that mathematics was essential to a correct understanding of natural philosophy is considered to have been 400 years ahead of its time.<ref name="First Scientist, Clegg">{{cite book|last = Clegg|first= Brian|title=The First Scientist: A Life of Roger Bacon|publisher= Da Capo Press|date=2004|page= 2|isbn = 978-0786713585}}</ref>