Scientific discovery is the process of conceiving, developing and testing a novel concept or hypothesis. Among many other things, it can yield inventions like the pneumatic telegraph or the first practical electric battery. Scientific discovery can also lead to fundamental reconceptualizations of science, as when Lavoisier introduced his oxygen theory in 1777. According to this theory, the chemical element is not a pure substance but an atomic “principle of combustion” combined with caloric energy. In addition to discoveries, scientific discovery can be the source of knowledge claims that receive discovery status, a process that is often the product of negotiations between scientists over which facts are considered discoveries (Brannigan 1981). Sociological theories also acknowledge that the development of new concepts and theories is part of a larger pattern of scientific change called paradigm shifts.
Philosophical reflections on discovery have emerged from a wide range of different perspectives. Some of the most influential approaches have abandoned the idea that there is a logic of discovery. For example, Thomas Kuhn identified a general pattern of discovery in his analysis of the emergence of novel facts and theories in scientific change, but he also emphasized that scientific change is not a simple process.
Other approaches have taken the view that there is a logic of discovery, but only in the sense that there are certain patterns in the reasoning that leads to new ideas. Such theories draw on resources as diverse as a wide range of philosophical analyses of processes of knowledge generation and empirical work in cognitive science, psychology, and sociology.