Discuss the Relative Advantages of Observation over Experiment

There are certain cases where observation is the only mode of acquiring knowledge.

It is not possible to artificially reproduce the stars, the heavenly bodies in the laboratory and make experiments on them. The knowledge about such distant objects like stars, comets, etc. or the effect of some unusual circumstances like earth quake, war etc. is known through observations only. In this sense the observation has wider scope of application and it is universally applicable.

2. One can pass from cause to effect and effect to cause in observation:

It is the most important limitation of experiment that the sequence of the events cannot be done in the reverse order. The causal event has to be applied first then the effect is to be observed. ‘Heat expands material bodies’ can only be verified through the experiments where heat is to be applied first. So in case of experiments we only pass from cause to effect, but in observation either way is possible.

3. Observation is the precondition to experiment:

It means that observation is a preparatory way for experiment. Whatever may be the experiment it is to be observed first? Newton observed the fall of the apple first and then proved the gravitational force through experiments. It shows that observation precedes experiment but experiment docs not precede observation.