Experiments in the Making: Instruments and Forms of Quantification in Francis Bacon’s Historia Densi et Rari

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 360-387
Author(s):  
Dana Jalobeanu
Keyword(s):  
Special Class ◽  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Philosophy Of Experiment ◽  
Quantitative Estimates ◽  
Special Power ◽  
Methodological Considerations ◽  
Experimental History

Abstract The Historia densi et rari, published posthumously in 1658, is probably Francis Bacon’s most complex natural and experimental history. It contains observations and experimental reports, quantitative estimates and tables, and theoretical and methodological considerations, in a structure which has never been fully investigated. I provide here a fresh reading of this text from the perspective of scientific practices. I claim that Historia densi et rari represents a quantitative and instrumental investigation assembled with the help of Bacon’s philosophy of experiment as developed in the Novum organum. I first discuss the role played in the Historia densi et rari by the various instances of special power in delineating the object of research. I then analyze the ways in which a special class of instances of special power, the “mathematical instances,” are used in the Historia densi et rari to make the inquiry both more precise, and more abstract. Bacon used mathematical instances to transform traditional recipes of pneumatics into quantitative, more general investigations into universal motions and processes. Finally, I discuss two examples of scientific practice at work: the attempt to use instruments to gradually define and clarify “proper” (i.e., scientific) notions of “rarefaction” and “condensation,” and the redefinition of a metaphysical concept (plica materiae) in instrumental and operational terms.

Scientific Reforms, Feminist Interventions, and the Politics of Knowing: An Auto‐ethnography of a Feminist Neuroscientist

Hypatia ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 755-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Giordano
Keyword(s):  
Science Studies ◽  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
Feminist Science ◽  
Auto Ethnography ◽  
Doctoral Work ◽  
Cultural Contingency

Feminist science studies scholars have documented the historical and cultural contingency of scientific knowledge production. It follows that political and social activism has impacted the practice of science today; however, little has been done to examine the current cultures of science in light of feminist critiques and activism. In this article, I argue that, although critiques have changed the cultures of science both directly and indirectly, fundamental epistemological questions have largely been ignored and neutralized through these policy reforms. I provide an auto‐ethnography of my doctoral work in a neuroscience program to a) demonstrate how the culture of science has incorporated critiques into its practices and b) identify how we might use these changes in scientific practices to advance feminist science agendas. I critically analyze three areas in current scientific practice in which I see obstacles and opportunities: 1) research ethics, 2) diversity of research subjects and scientists, and 3) identification of a project's significance for funding. I argue that an understanding of the complicated and changing cultures of science is necessary for future feminist interventions into the sciences that directly challenge science's claim to epistemic authority.

scholarly journals The hidden side of animal cognition research: Scientists’ attitudes toward bias, replicability and scientific practice

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256607
Author(s):  
Benjamin G. Farrar ◽  
Ljerka Ostojić ◽  
Nicola S. Clayton
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Animal Cognition ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Free Text ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Animal Minds ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Questionable Research Practices ◽  
Replication Studies

Animal cognition research aims to understand animal minds by using a diverse range of methods across an equally diverse range of species. Throughout its history, the field has sought to mitigate various biases that occur when studying animal minds, from experimenter effects to anthropomorphism. Recently, there has also been a focus on how common scientific practices might affect the reliability and validity of published research. Usually, these issues are discussed in the literature by a small group of scholars with a specific interest in the topics. This study aimed to survey a wider range of animal cognition researchers to ask about their attitudes towards classic and contemporary issues facing the field. Two-hundred and ten active animal cognition researchers completed our survey, and provided answers on questions relating to bias, replicability, statistics, publication, and belief in animal cognition. Collectively, researchers were wary of bias in the research field, but less so in their own work. Over 70% of researchers endorsed Morgan’s canon as a useful principle but many caveated this in their free-text responses. Researchers self-reported that most of their studies had been published, however they often reported that studies went unpublished because they had negative or inconclusive results, or results that questioned “preferred” theories. Researchers rarely reported having performed questionable research practices themselves—however they thought that other researchers sometimes (52.7% of responses) or often (27.9% of responses) perform them. Researchers near unanimously agreed that replication studies are important but too infrequently performed in animal cognition research, 73.0% of respondents suggested areas of animal cognition research could experience a ‘replication crisis’ if replication studies were performed. Consistently, participants’ free-text responses provided a nuanced picture of the challenges animal cognition research faces, which are available as part of an open dataset. However, many researchers appeared concerned with how to interpret negative results, publication bias, theoretical bias and reliability in areas of animal cognition research. Collectively, these data provide a candid overview of barriers to progress in animal cognition and can inform debates on how individual researchers, as well as organizations and journals, can facilitate robust scientific research in animal cognition.

Constructivism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Downes
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Social Constructivism ◽  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Underlying Structure ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Scientific Representations ◽  
The World ◽  
The Way

Originally proposed by sociologists of science, constructivism or social constructivism is a view about the nature of scientific knowledge held by many philosophers of science. Constructivists maintain that scientific knowledge is made by scientists and not determined by the world. This makes constructivists antirealists. Constructivism here should not be confused with constructivism in mathematics or logic, although there are some similarities. Constructivism is more aptly compared with Berkeley’s idealism. Most constructivist research involves empirical study of a historical or a contemporary episode in science, with the aim of learning how scientists experiment and theorize. Constructivists try not to bias their case studies with presuppositions about how scientific research is directed. Thus their approach contrasts with approaches in philosophy of science that assume scientists are guided by a particular method. From their case studies, constructivists have concluded that scientific practice is not guided by any one set of methods. Thus constructivism is relativist or antirationalist. There are two familiar (and related) criticisms of constructivism. First, since constructivists are self-avowed relativists, some philosophers argue that constructivism fails for the same reasons that relativism fails. But many philosophers of science note that relativism can be characterized in various ways and that versions of relativism can be useful in the interpretation of science. Therefore, constructivism’s relativism does not by itself render it unacceptable. Second, constructivists are accused of believing that scientists literally ‘make the world’, in the way some make houses or cars. This is probably not the best way to understand constructivism. Rather, constructivism requires only the weaker thesis that scientific knowledge is ‘produced’ primarily by scientists and only to a lesser extent determined by fixed structures in the world. This interprets constructivism as a thesis about our access to the world via scientific representations. For example, constructivists claim that the way we represent the structure of DNA is a result of many interrelated scientific practices and is not dictated by some ultimate underlying structure of reality. Constructivist research provides important tools for epistemologists specializing in the study of scientific knowledge.

scholarly journals How to Carry Out a Democratic Ethnobotanical Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-119
Author(s):  
Pedro Crepaldi Carlessi
Keyword(s):  
Religious Community ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ethnobotanical Study ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
The Face ◽  
Political Commitments ◽  
Methodological Considerations ◽  
Afro Brazilian

This contribution aims to share some experiences and methodological considerations that arose during an ethnobotanical research project with an Afro-Brazilian religious community in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. By presenting ontological features of plants used in religious practices, and the ways relations are created within this religious cosmology, this work opens a discussion about the political commitments of doing contemporary ethnobotanical science. When the ways of being and living in communities considered “traditional”—here referring to Afro-Brazilian religious communities, and specifically to the Umbanda Afro-Brazilian religion—are treated as equally valid, questions arise about the reaches of our own scientific practices, creating possibilities to construct practices and policies that preserve these communities’ vitality in the face of the overwhelming imposition of colonialism. In this sense, ethnobotanical research is at an analytical crossroads that can give the field an advantage over the political paralysis of the sciences and over the clandestine politicization of science as the spokesperson for a singular nature. These considerations lead to self-reflection on scientific expertise and democratic ways of producing knowledge about plants in plural cultural contexts.

Emotions, Morals, Practices

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Boddice
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Moral Economy ◽  
The Self ◽  
Moral Action ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
History Of Emotions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Analytical Category

Sets the framework of the book within contemporary theories of the history of emotions and the history of morality, making a case for the use of ‘moral economy’ as an analytical category that connects theories of the biological evolution of civilized emotions to scientific practices of those theories. The Darwinian explanation of sympathy thus becomes a scientific practice of sympathy, both defining the self and the meaning of scientific moral action, and a raft of public policies and research agendas.

Metaphysical Presuppositions of Scientific Practice: ‘Atomism’ vs. ‘Wholism’

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Rueger ◽  
W. David Sharp
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
John Maynard Keynes ◽  
Nancy Cartwright ◽  
Independent Effects

A certain order or stability of nature has often been seen as a necessary presupposition of many of our scientific practices, in particular of our use of information gained in one kind of circumstance to explain or predict what happens in quite different situations. John Maynard Keynes and, more recently, Nancy Cartwright have argued that these practices commit us to the existence of stable ‘atoms’ or ‘natures’ or ‘tendencies.’ The phenomena we observe in nature are, on this view, the result of superimposing the invariable, context-independent effects of all the different tendencies involved.

scholarly journals Using technologies to design personalized learning pathways as a part of scientific practice of students

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-211
Author(s):  
Elizaveta A. Osipovskaya ◽  
Nikolay G. Pshenichny ◽  
Marina V. Kharakhordina
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Summer School ◽  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Personalized Learning ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Stanford University ◽  
Chemistry Research ◽  
Internship Programs ◽  
University Science

Problem and goal. The article deals with the process of designing the high school internship program of the ITMO Universitys Information Chemistry Center by using information and communications technology (ICT). The program development process involved following stages: client briefing, exploratory study, hypotheses-formation processes and its testing, custom development, learning experience design and project defense. Methodology. The high school students views about the Infochemistry Internship Program were analyzed. Authors conduc- ted in-depth interviews with respondents and retrieved information about students scientific achievements, challenges and recommendations for improving the internship program. During the exploratory research stage the high school internship programs of Russian and foreign universities in the field of biology, chemistry, physics and IT were studied. The initial sample was composed of Stanford University Mathematics Camp (SUMaC), Stanford University Science Circle, Harvard University Summer School (Pre-College Program), Chemistry Research Academy of University of Pennsylvania. Three types of scientific practices - summer camp or summer school, university science circle and a research academy - were identified. Results. The authors emphasized that there is not a single high school internship program in the field of chemistry in Russia like at IMTO University. This immerse education program is based on laboratory learning that allows students experience chemistry principles under the guidance of leading scientists. The concept of the program based on the science education model. It involves the personalized learning pathway, scaffolding activities, and participation in the research project. Flexible learning pathway is the core of the program that includes various levels of personalization: project, scaffolding means, pace of learning, educational content, educational result. To prove the importance of using ICT and social media in educational process authors found the results of the research conducted by University College Dublin and University of Melbourne. Conclusion. The paper has highlighted the significance of revamping internship programs, identified the most common types of scientific practices and proved the importance of selected program principles.

scholarly journals SCIENTIFIC PRACTICES AS CULTURAL ACTIVITIES: A CHALLENGE AND AN OPPORTUNITY FOR EDUCATION

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 296-297
Author(s):  
Peter Heering
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Cultural Activity ◽  
Two Cultures ◽  
Key Word ◽  
The Two Cultures ◽  
History Of

During the 20th century, the sciences have been considered as disciplines that are significantly distinct from the humanities, C.P. Snows term of the “two cultures” has become the key word for this development. However, recent science studies produced arguments for the thesis that sciences are also a cultural activity. As a consequence, science and the related practices become time dependent – what was an accepted scientific practice in a particular period would not meet the standards of another period. Understanding science as a cultural activity poses several challenges to educators, but offers also opportunities. One approach that meets these opportunities is the implementation of the history of science in science education. In the following, two specific approaches in this respect will be discussed: storytelling and the reenactment of historical experiments.

scholarly journals John Dewey's theory of inquiry. Quantum physics, ecology and the myth of the scientific method

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-154
Author(s):  
Joaquín Fernández Mateo
Keyword(s):  
Modern Philosophy ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Method ◽  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Methodological Pluralism ◽  
Research Problems ◽  
Theory Of Inquiry

The modern philosophy of science has not succeeded in defining conclusively what the scientific method consists in. On the contrary, scientific practice seems to consist in a methodological pluralism, a definition that connects with essential fragments of John Dewey's Logic, the Theory of Inquiry. For Dewey, even the forms of logic emerge from the problems defined in indeterminate situations. A historical example was the introduction of the notion of complementarity in physics, which allowed the interpretation of two confusingly paradoxical experiments in a coherent way. Dewey's thought demonstrates its relevance by helping us to define the pattern of inquiry. Methodological pluralism and the dependence of logic on research problems is not something that will happen, it is something that has happened and does happen in scientific practices.

Convergence or Divergence

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 775-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghna Sabharwal ◽  
Roli Varma
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
The United States ◽  
Professional Autonomy ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Scientists And Engineers ◽  
Indian Immigrant ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Research Type

Do immigrant faculty trained in American higher education institutions adopt the outlook and practices of native US scientists and engineers (“convergence”), or do they diverge from such practices? The modern science paradigm holds that location will not matter significantly and that immigrants in either place will converge to a common standard of scientific practice. Drawing upon 134 in-depth interviews, this paper compares the scientific practices of two groups of Indian immigrant faculty in science and engineering: (i) those who studied and worked in the United States and then returned to India and (ii) those who continued to work in the United States. This paper shows that the two groups differed in important ways: ease of securing grants, management of grants, research environment, professional autonomy, and research type.

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