How to study a text and find out the relevant
documentation relative to its notions, concepts and allusions.
NEWTON'S PRISMS AND THE
USES OF EXPERIMENT
D. Gooding, T. Pinch, S. Schaffer, The Uses of Experiment,
CUP, 1989.
1) Explain the subtitles:
Instruments are in truth reified theorems (Gaston Bachelard,
1933).
'Perhaps,said the Marchioness, Nature has reserved the merit
of demonstrationg Truth to the English Prisms; that is, to those
by whose means she at first discovered herself.' (Francesco
Algarotti, 1737).
2) Find out who Newton was and
what is the "experimentum crucis" referred to in the text.
Use dictionaries, encyclopaedias, and the Internet.
Visit the sites:
Report.
3) Did you find more sites relevant
to Newton? Which do you consider best and why? When would you say
a site is scientifically reliable? Account for your answer.
4) Find out :
- What the Royal Society was?
- Who Robert Boyle was?
5) Comment on "Doctrine"
versus "experiment"
6) What is the importance of
"replicability"?
7) What is "experimental
philosophy"? What is natural philosophy? What is natural philosophy?
8) If you had to prepare for
an exposé on the subject, give 5 titles of books articles or cdroms
or internet sites that would constitute your bibliography. |
