re science and methodology was homeopathy tradition in article apr ecsvax uncecs edu ccreegan ecsvax uncecs edu charles l creegan writes what about kekule s infamous derivation of the idea of benzene rings from a daydream of snakes in the fire biting their tails is this specific enough to count certainly it turns up repeatedly in basic phil of sci texts as an example of the inventive component of hypothesizing i think the question is what is extra scientific about this it has been a long time since anyone has proposed restrictions on where one comes up with ideas in order for them to be considered legitimate hypotheses the point in short is this hypotheses and speculation in science may come from wild flights of fancy daydreams ancient traditions modern quackery or anywhere else russell
