What is Inductive reasoning?
'''Induction''' is one of the main forms of logical reasoning. The other is [[Deductive reasoning|deduction]]. In induction, we find a general rule by using a large number of particular cases. For example, watching water in many different situations, we can conclude that water always flows downhill. Induction is not the method of [[science]], but it can be the starting-point for science. Everyone can see that the sun, moon and stars appear to move across the sky.<ref>Rather slowly in the case of the stars and planets.</ref> Early civilisations thought this meant they revolved around the Earth, because that is what they always seem to do. We now know this is quite wrong, but discovering the real explanation was the start of modern science (see [[Copernicus]], [[Galileo]] and [[heliocentrism]]). What they did was to work out an alternative [[theory]] or [[hypothesis]], which eventually was shown to be a much better explanation of all the observations.<ref>Some of the details were adjusted in the 20th century.</ref> That is real science, but the observations of the heavens, which started with the [[Babylonia]]ns, showed the regularity which needed to be explained. What science did was to prove the obvious explanation was not the right one. Another example is the work of [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]], who spent half his life collecting interesting [[fact]]s about animals and plants. What he did was suggest a way in which all these facts could be explained. It was a hypothesis which could be, and was, tested in every way possible. It is well known now that the [[theory of evolution]] by [[natural selection]] best explains the way the living world has come to be as we see it. Again, real science was built on a collection of facts which needed an explanation. The [[philosophy of science]] is about testing hypotheses, rather than collecting facts, though facts are the basis of all science. Induction, the collecting of facts, is not by itself science. The philosopher [[Hume]] said it meant “instances of which we have