Scientific method

[John Grehan]

 John Shuey

 To be a "science" a discipline
>must make predictions that are falsifiable.  This is the essence of
science - laying out a hypothesis and then testing it.

On whose authority? This is simply one criterion that individuals might
support, but
there is no transendental athority that I am aware of that says this must
be so. 
According to one philosopher of science if this were the criterion for
science then
witchcraft is science. It is possible that a majority of scientists accept
this 
criterion as the "essence" of science (if there is indeed such a thing), but
all that shows is that in the current social framework of science this is the
majority view. I am always intruigued when it comes to people insisting
that one
"MUST" do this or be that in order to qualify for membership under some
category or label.

John Grehan