Umbrellaology

For the past eighteen years Thomas has been collecting materials on a neglected research topic,
the umbrella. Thomas’s research results have been collected in nine volumes. Thomas covered
every household, family, and individual in the Delhi-NCR region, collecting data on
(1) the number of the umbrellas possessed,
(2) their size,
(3) their weight,
(4) their color.
It took a few years to finish the Delhi-NCR region, and then Thomas thought of extending the
research to other parts of India, and even the rest of the world. At this point, Thomas told his
friend Alice that he was proud to be the creator of a new science, “umbrellaology.” Alice told
Thomas that that umbrellaology is not a science at all. This is how their dialogue went: 
Alice: It is silly to investigate umbrellas.
Thomas: Science is concerned with investigating all sorts of things, including the most boring and
inconsequential.
Alice: Umbrellaology isn’t a science because it is of no use or benefit to mankind.
Thomas: Science isn’t a matter of what’s useful, but of what is true. I am a pure scientist, and
every sentence in my nine volumes contains a hard, cold fact.
Alice: But science deals with eternal truths, and your facts about umbrellas will change from day
to day
Thomas: True, but so does the weather, but we have a science of understanding the weather
(“meteriology”). For umbrellaology to be a science, we just have to make sure that the data is up
to date.
Alice: umbrellaology doesn’t involve any hypotheses and hasn’t developed any theories or laws.
Thomas: Not true. Before entering each new colony in Delhi-NCR, I made a hypothesis regarding
the number and characteristics of the umbrellas that would be found there. These hypotheses
were either verified or nullified by my subsequent observations. I have also developed many
theories and laws. For instance, there is the law of Colour variation relative to ownership by sex.
(Umbrellas owned by women tend to be multi-coloured, whereas those owned by men are almost
all black.) I have given an exact statistical formulation of this law. Furthermore, I have discovered
that the number of umbrellas owned by a single person is highly correlated to that person’s
annual income. I have also discovered the law of Tendency Towards Acquisition of Umbrellas in
Rainy Weather. This has been experimentally verified.
 
Q. Is umbrellaology a science?
Your answer should make reference to the Ladyman text (You can exclude the material on
Kuhn). 
10 marks, 800 words. Due midnight, 1st October. 3 minute/day late penalty.