Julius von Mayer was a doctor and physicist who discovered that energy is conserved by studying his patients on an ocean voyage. James Prescott Joule was a physicist who also discovered that energy is conserved in an experiment with weights and a paddle in water. How does this illustrate the relationship between multiple approaches and the same result? Scientists do not need to work in the same discipline to reach the same conclusion. Scientists must be able to understand multiple disciplines. Scientists in different disciplines do not all need to gather data.