Looking for patterns in data is useful because such patterns are often caused by a simple underlying principle, but this isn’t always the case. As an example, consider the story of the the Titus-Bode law.
And Yet it Moves
The central dispute between Galileo and the Church was whether Galileo could assert that the Earth really did move around the Sun (that is, as a scientific fact), or whether he should present the idea as merely a hypothesis. Church officials admitted that Galileo’s observations gave the appearance of moving around the Sun, but argued that appearances could be deceiving.
Mining for Science
Did Gervase of Canterbury observe a meteor colliding with the Moon? Probably not, but he did use a scientific approach to study the reports.
Cutting Edge Science in the 1800’s
In the 1800s, many fields of science were just starting to develop as specialized areas within the general sciences. A lot has changed in 200 years.