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.

中文翻译：

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制作中的实验：弗朗西斯·培根（Francis Bacon）的Historia Densi et Rari中的量化工具和量化形式

摘要

该史记DENSI等rari，于1658年出版遗腹，可能是培根最复杂的自然和历史的实验。它包含观察和实验报告，定量估计值和表格，以及理论和方法上的考虑，其结构从未得到充分研究。我在这里从科学实践的角度提供了对本文的新鲜阅读。我声称Historia densi et rari代表了定量研究和仪器研究，这些研究是在Novum器官中培根的实验哲学的帮助下进行的。我首先讨论在扮演的角色史记DENSI 等rari由各种特殊权力实例来界定研究对象。然后，我分析了在Historia densi et rari中使用特殊类别的特殊能力实例“数学实例”的方法，以使查询更加精确和抽象。培根使用数学实例将传统的气动配方转换为定量的，更通用的研究，将其转换为通用运动和过程。最后，我讨论了工作中科学实践的两个例子：尝试使用工具逐步定义和澄清“反射”和“凝聚”的“适当”（即科学）概念，以及重新定义形而上学的概念（复数形式）），无论是在工具方面还是在运营方面。