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Re: Big Reply 7mike shupp (ms44278@HUEY.CSUN.EDU)Thu, 11 Jul 1996 20:58:46 -0700
> Francis Bacon (1561-1626) states that the underlying > purpose of experimentation is "natura vexata," to annoy > or vex nature so that it reveals its secrets. He also directly > compares the role of the experimentor to the role of the > inquisitor who tortures his victims.... > The question here is in evaluating Bacon's role in the > development of science. How influential was he? Also > to what extent did others share his view of the nature > of experimentation. Hard to say. Bacon's ideas about scientific method were dogma in high school science texts of the 1950's. I don't know about today. From observation, working scientists are not much interested in philosophy, at least on a day to day basis. Einstein and Percy Bridgeman and Schroedinger, etc., are pretty rare beasts. The argument has been made, though, that Bacon had enormous influence, because most educated people after 1700 or so thought that Isaac Newton had developed his theory of gravity through Baconian induction. And that David Hume's assault on unnamed believers in induction in his ESSAY had to be delicately worded because he was attacking a pair of English icons. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ms44278@huey.csun.edu Mike Shupp California State University, Northridge
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