30 JUL 2013 by ideonexus
Aristotle as the First Scientist
Aristotle repeatedly pointed out that his predecessors' work and conclusions were often marred by insufficient observation. He himself, after a remarkable analysis of the reproduction of bees, states that he cannot arrive at certain conclusions because "the facts have not yet been sufficiently ascertained. And if at any future time they are ascertained, then credence must be given to the direct evidence rather than to the theories; and to the theories also, provided that the results which the... 1 
notes
notesClassification of animals, empirical observations... he got much wrong, but to call into question his achievements for this is like criticizing the invention of Calculus because Newton believed in magic.
19 APR 2013 by ideonexus
Bacon, Galileo, Descartes
The transition from the epoch we have been considering to that which follows, has been distinguished by three extraordinary personages, Bacon, Galileo, and Descartes. Bacon has revealed the true method of studying nature, by employing the three instruments with which she has furnished us for the discovery of her secrets, observation, experiment and calculation. He was desirous that the philosopher, placed in the midst of the universe, should, as a first and necessary step in his career, renou... 1 notes
notesCondorcet considers the last the most important of the era.
19 JAN 2013 by ideonexus
The Difference in the Way Scientists and Laypeople Approa...
Scientists are trained to avoid rhetorical arguments, the "vulgar Induction" Bacon warned against, and let the chips of reality fall where they may. They highly prize this intellectual honesty because the stakes for them are very high. They know how value judgments, prejudices, and habits of thought can blind you to the truth you are seeking, which will limit or end your career as a scientist.
The lay public does just the opposite. They form frames of reference. prejudices, and value judgme...Folksonomies: empiricism public policy
Folksonomies: empiricism public policy
1 notes
notesScientists work from evidence, the layperson works from a premise.
02 FEB 2012 by ideonexus
Facts Need Theory to Guide Them
All good intellects have repeated, since Bacon's time, that there can be no real knowledge but that which is based on observed facts. This is incontestable, in our present advanced stage; but, if we look back to the primitive stage of human knowledge, we shall see that it must have been otherwise then. If it is true that every theory must be based upon observed facts, it is equally true that facts cannot be observed without the guidance of some theory. Without such guidance, our facts would b... 1 notes
notesWithout theory, we have no framework within which to contain them.
04 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Better to Be Wrong Than Impartial
But, as Bacon has well pointed out, truth is more likely to come out of error, if this is clear and definite, than out of confusion, and my experience teaches me that it is better to hold a well-understood and intelligible opinion, even if it should turn out to be wrong, than to be content with a muddle-headed mixture of conflicting views, sometimes miscalled impartiality, and often no better than no opinion at all. 1 notes
notesImpartiality defined here as holding a collection of conflicting viewpoints, where it is better to hold no opinion at all.
14 DEC 2011 by ideonexus
The Benefits of Alchemy
But there is another alchemy, operative and practical, which teaches how to make the noble metals and colours and many other things better and more abundantly by art than they are made in nature. And science of this kind is greater than all those preceding because it produces greater utilities. For not only can it yield wealth and very many other things for the public welfare, but it also teaches how to discover such things as are capable of prolonging human life for much longer periods than ... 1 notes
notesAlchemy produces medicines and ways to produce useful compounds. It's not, as Bacon argues, just the frivolity.
14 DEC 2011 by ideonexus
Bacon's Recipe for Gun Powder
Sed tamen salis petrae. VI. Part V. NOV. CORVLI. ET V. sulphuris, et sic facies toniitrum et coruscationem: sic facies artificium.
But, however, of saltpetre take six parts, live of young willow (charcoal), and five of sulphur, and so you will make thunder and lightning, and so you will turn the trick.
Bacon's recipe for Gunpowder, partly expressed as an anagram in the original Latin. 1 notes
notesPresented in rhyme and in an anagram in Latin.
13 DEC 2011 by ideonexus
The Search Brings It's Own Treasure
And yet surely to alchemy this right is due, that it may be compared to the husbandman whereof Æsop makes the fable, that when he died he told his sons that he had left unto them gold buried under the ground in his vineyard: and they digged over the ground, gold they found none, but by reason of their stirring and digging the mould about the roots of their vines, they had a great vintage the year following: so assuredly the search and stir to make gold hath brought to light a great number of... 1 notes
notesUsing an Aesop's fable, Bacon illustrates how alchemy is a productive venture even if it produces no gold.
25 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
Most Scientists are Not on the True Scientific Path
Now the true and lawful goal of the sciences is none other than this: that human life be endowed with new discoveries and powers. But of this the great majority have no feeling, but are merely hireling and professorial; except when it occasionally happens that some workman of acuter wit and covetous of honor applies himself to a new invention, which he mostly does at the expense of his fortunes. But in general, so far are men from proposing to themselves to augment the mass of arts and scienc... 1 notes
notesAccording to Bacon, the goal of science is to endow humanity with new discoveries and powers, but most scientists are focused on personal gain.
25 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
If You Wish To Contradict Bacon's Assertions, Please Use ...
I have on my own part made it my care and study that the things which I shall propound should not only be true, but should also be presented to men's minds, how strangely soever preoccupied and obstructed, in a manner not harsh or unpleasant. It is but reasonable, however (especially in so great a restoration of learning and knowledge), that I should claim of men one favor in return, which is this: if anyone would form an opinion or judgment either out of his own observation, or out of the cr... 1 notes
notesUse experiments, use tests, and observance of nature to formulate your arguments.
