Literary notes about experimental (AI summary)
The term "experimental" is used in literature to denote both the rigorous procedures of systematic investigation and a broader, sometimes metaphorical, approach to exploring new ideas. In scientific and academic texts, “experimental” explicitly refers to controlled testing and measurement, as seen in discussions of scurvy research and laboratory methods [1, 2, 3, 4]. In contrast, in more philosophical and literary works the word often conveys an open-ended, exploratory attitude toward understanding human experience and moral convictions—illustrated by its use in contexts that challenge traditional reasoning or suggest a novel way of perceiving loss and gain [5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. Authors like John Dewey and Bertrand Russell adopt the term to describe an ever-evolving process where theoretical assumptions are continuously subjected to practical trials [10, 11, 12]. Thus, across diverse genres, “experimental” encapsulates a dynamic interplay between established knowledge and innovative inquiry.
- Baumann, L. , and Howard, C. P. : (2) Mineral Metabolism of Experimental Scurvy of the Guinea-pig, Am.
— from Scurvy, Past and Present by Alfred F. Hess - Holst, H. , and Froelich, T. : (1) Experimental Studies Relating to Ship Beriberi and Scurvy, Jour. of Hyg., 1907, VII, 634.
— from Scurvy, Past and Present by Alfred F. Hess - There is almost no experimental data on the antiscorbutic value of eggs .
— from Scurvy, Past and Present by Alfred F. Hess - Experimental determination of the co-efficients of elasticity.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - His departure gave Catherine the first experimental conviction that a loss may be sometimes a gain.
— from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - Woman should discover, so to speak, an experimental morality, man should reduce it to a system.
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - All invention is tentative, all art experimental, and to be sought, like salvation, with fear and trembling.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - Use, in these experimental minds, as in nature, is only incidental.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - That magic and mythology have no experimental sanction is clear so soon as experience begins to be gathered together with any care.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - The aim, in short, is experimental, and hence constantly growing as it is tested in action.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey - The empirical method says, " Wait till there is a sufficient number of cases;" the experimental method says, " Produce the cases."
— from How We Think by John Dewey - * Dewey, "Essays in Experimental Logic," pp.
— from The Analysis of Mind by Bertrand Russell