The rise of 'omics' methods and data-driven research presents new possibilities for discovery but also stimulates disagreement over how science should be conducted and even how it should be defined.

But where do those scientific methods come from and how did they develop? The scientific method is a process of experimentation that is used to explore observations and answer questions.

This is the basis of the modern scientific method. It blossomed in the 17th century, when a new breed of thinkers took the view that scientific knowledge can only come from first-hand observation.