Speleology Speleology Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology). The term "speleology" is also sometimes applied to the recreational activity of exploring caves, but this is more properly known as "caving" or "potholing", or (not usually by participants) by the uncommon American term "spelunking". Speleology and caving are often connected, as the physical skills required for "in situ" study are the same. Speleology is a cross-disciplinary field that combines the knowledge of chemistry, biology, geology, physics,
History of scientific method authority of others. Knowledge must be based on experience. In the mid-19th century Claude Bernard was also influential, especially in bringing the scientific method to medicine. In his discourse on scientific method, "An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine" (1865), he described what makes a scientific theory good and what makes a scientist a true discoverer. Unlike many scientific writers of his time, Bernard wrote about his own experiments and thoughts, and used the first person. William Stanley Jevons' "The Principles of Science: a treatise on logic and scientific method" (1873, 1877) Chapter XII "The Inductive or Inverse Method",