Day 1: 13th December 2021
|| Experiments ||

Experiments are employed to create new things (golden-rice), detect effects (gravity-waves), measure quantities (Planks constant), and settle theoretical debates (Is the light wave or particle?). They are the final arbitrators of scientific disputes. However, an experiment is only good as the reason for believing in its result.

In this session, we discuss the complexity of experimental reasoning and examine the reasons for believing in it by studying a few experiments in detail. We do so by asking the following questions. What is an experiment? How do we know that an experimental result is not a mere artefact of the instruments employed? Can experiments have a life of their own?