In his essay 'Physics and reality', Albert Einstein writes that scientific inquiry is 'nothing but a refinement of everyday thinking'.

The important idea behind this is that, rather than there being a special method of inquiry available to all scientists but only scientists, there are methods and procedures used by everyone engaged in empirical inquiry. And there are an extraordinary array of special techniques and devices - such as instruments of observation, mathematical techniques from numerals to the calculus to the computer, etc - which enable scientists to extend their evidential reach, and to refine their assessment of the worth of evidence.

This stress upon continuity with, and refinement of, everyday thinking, suggests that we should stop worrying - as philosophers of science have long done - about the problem of demarcation of science from non-science, and about the ever-elusive scientific method. We should think instead about the constraints and demands upon all empirical inquiry, and the ways in which the sciences have refined and amplified human cognitive capacities.

Susan Haack is author of books including Defending Science - within Reason: Between Scientism and Cynicism (buy this book from Amazon (UK) or Amazon (USA)), and Manifesto of a Passionate Moderate: Unfashionable Essays (buy this book from Amazon (UK) or Amazon (USA)). See her website.