Sometimes the discoveries are accidental or coincidental and sometimes the best use of a discovery is not immediately apparent, but the nature of the experiments ensure that the data exists to document the expected and unexpected. As technology and knowledge increase, the possibility of scientific discovery increases. Carl Sagan benefited from centuries of accumulated information when he completed degrees in astronomy and astrophysics in 1960. Improved technology, his cross-disciplinary knowledge of astronomy and biology, and funding for scientific research supported his search for life on other planets. Secondary sources are descriptions or interpretations prepared by people who were not involved in the events described.
Researchers often use primary sources to understand past events but they produce secondary sources.
Secondary sources provide useful background material and context for information gained from primary sources. Secondary sources are descriptions or interpretations prepared by people who were not involved in the events described. Researchers often use primary sources to understand past events but they produce secondary sources. Secondary sources provide useful background material and context for information gained from primary sources. The view that the present well-being of mankind should predominate over religious considerations in civil or public affairs is termed secularism.