科學實驗的輻射發展：重構早期電學實驗的歷史

A Radial Model of Experimental Development-Reconstructing the History of Early Electrical Experiments

陳瑞麟(Ruey-Lin Chen)

《歐美研究》 37卷4期 (2007/12) Pp. 535-591

摘要

本文的目的在於提出一個「科學實驗的輻射發展模式」，並以十八世紀的近代電學實驗的歷史來例證。本文首先簡短回顧研究科學實驗的文獻，然後提出實驗的結構，包括背景理念、實驗模型和物質落實。接著我們界定原型實驗與衍生實驗的概念，再根據實驗的結構來考察兩者間的傳衍關係，繼而辨識八種傳衍關係。原型實驗與衍生實驗間不同的傳衍關係，使得科學實驗的發展呈現出輻射狀。最後我們將顯示近代電學實驗的歷史能緊密地配合此模式。

關鍵字

科學實驗 ； 實驗的結構 ； 科學史 ； 電學 ； 科學哲學

並列摘要

This paper proposes a radial model of scientific experimental development. I shall support the model with reference to the history of modern electrical experiments in the 18th century. After a brief review of the literature on experimentation, I first analyze the typical structure of experimentation, which consists of the background ideas of experiment, the experimental model and the material realization of the model. Next, I specify 〞the prototypical experiment〞 and 〞the descended experiment〞 and explore the descendent phenomena by juxapositioning the structure of the prototypical experiment against that of the descended one. Then, I discern eight types of descendent relations. Different relations between a prototypical experiment and different descended experiments cause the developmental pattern of experiments to appear radial. Finally, I show that the history of modern electrical experiments fits very well the radial model.

並列關鍵字

Scientific Experiment ； Structure of Experimentation ； History of Science ； Electrics ； Philosophy of Science

參考文獻

陳瑞麟(2005)。科學現象的觀察與建構。東吳哲學學報。11，57-98。

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Butterfield, H.(1958).The origin of modern science: 1300-1800.London, UK:G. Bell and Sons.

Cartwright, N.(1983).How the laws of physics lie?.Oxford, UK:Oxford University Press.

Chen, R.-L. (Eds.),C. M. Mi(2007).Naturalizing epistemology and philosophy of science.Amsterdam, the Netherlands:Rodopi.