Scientific Explanations In History And Natural Science

Historical explanations and scientific explanations are very different and similar. A historical explanation is an account of an event or events in history and it can reveal when the event takes place, how it takes place and the events that prompted that particular event to take place. A scientific explanation is a theory that reveals the reason why phenomena occur in the natural world. Although historical and scientific explanations are acquired through different means, knowledge in History and Natural Science is discovered and scientists and historians use inductive reasoning, which is using multiple pieces of evidence to reach a certain conclusion. Also, historical and scientific explanations help human beings to better understand themselves and the world around them. Historical explanations are gained through the careful examination of the occurrences in the past. Historians use primary source documents to learn about the events that occur in the past and primary source documents can be in the form of photographs, illustrations, letters, diaries or speeches. Historians evaluate …show more content…
The author’s language persuades people to agree with him or her and the author uses multiple pieces of evidence to support his or her points. For example, in the video, History vs. Christopher Columbus, one historian strongly believes that Columbus is an “intrepid explorer” and the other historian strongly believes that Columbus is a “ruthless exploiter”(Gendler). The word “intrepid” makes Colombus sound brave, bold, fearless and adventurous, but the word “ruthless” makes him sound merciless, horrible, cruel and harsh. Their account on Columbus is based upon their values and beliefs even though the pieces of evidence they use to support their arguments are