What is the study of fossils scientific and the study of special creation is not?

Answer 1

The answer to the question "Why is..." or "What makes..." is due to something called scientific method. The method entails generating an hypotheses, which can then be validated by independently gathered observable, empirical and measurable data.
If all the currently available data does not contradict the hypotheses it is accepted as the current theory. As such evolution is a current theory which is not contradicted by current fact. Hence the study of fossils follows these principles, where as special creation can not be validated independently. ie. The text in The Bible can not be tested by scientific method, since there are no observations that can be done that show the earth was created in 7 days, nor any observable data that corroborates that fact, rather data that contradicts that fact, and hence the bible (and most religious texts) fail as "hypotheses" since in scientific method nothing is fact, and the bible may be spiritual fact, but has failed the test of scientific validation.

The study of fossils is Paleontology.Hope this ansewered the forst part of your question.

Answer 2

The study of fossils is scientific because it involves the examination of physical evidence (fossils) to understand the history of life on Earth through a methodological approach based on empirical evidence and observation. On the other hand, the concept of special creation is not considered scientific as it is based on religious or philosophical beliefs rather than testable hypotheses and empirical evidence.