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creating article on historical science
'''Historical science''' aims to describe phenomena of the past and reconstruct their causes.<ref>{{Cite book
| author=Laudan, R. | chapter=What's so Special about the Past? | page=58
| title=History and Evolution | editor=Nitecki, M.H., and Nitecki, D.V. | year=1992
| url=http://books.google.com/?id=kyLRtsvLS2AC&pg=PA55&dq=%22What%27s+so+Special+about+the+Past%22+laudan&q=%22What%27s%20so%20Special%20about%20the%20Past%22%20laudan | accessdate=7 February 2010
| publisher=SUNY Press | isbn=0791412113
}}</ref>
When trying to explain past phenomena, historical scientists try to construct a set of hypotheses about the causes and then look for a so called "[[smoking gun]]", a piece of evidence which indicates that one of the hypotheses might be a better explanation than the others.<ref>{{Cite journal
| author=Cleland, C.E.
| title=Methodological and Epistemic Differences between Historical Science and Experimental Science
| journal=Philosophy of Science | volume=69 | month=September | year=2002 | pages=474–496
| url=http://spot.colorado.edu/~cleland/articles/Cleland.PS.Pdf |format=PDF| accessdate = 25.1.2012
| doi=10.1086/342453
| issue=3
}}</ref>
| author=Laudan, R. | chapter=What's so Special about the Past? | page=58
| title=History and Evolution | editor=Nitecki, M.H., and Nitecki, D.V. | year=1992
| url=http://books.google.com/?id=kyLRtsvLS2AC&pg=PA55&dq=%22What%27s+so+Special+about+the+Past%22+laudan&q=%22What%27s%20so%20Special%20about%20the%20Past%22%20laudan | accessdate=7 February 2010
| publisher=SUNY Press | isbn=0791412113
}}</ref>
When trying to explain past phenomena, historical scientists try to construct a set of hypotheses about the causes and then look for a so called "[[smoking gun]]", a piece of evidence which indicates that one of the hypotheses might be a better explanation than the others.<ref>{{Cite journal
| author=Cleland, C.E.
| title=Methodological and Epistemic Differences between Historical Science and Experimental Science
| journal=Philosophy of Science | volume=69 | month=September | year=2002 | pages=474–496
| url=http://spot.colorado.edu/~cleland/articles/Cleland.PS.Pdf |format=PDF| accessdate = 25.1.2012
| doi=10.1086/342453
| issue=3
}}</ref>