Guido Giglioni: Experimental Misunderstandings - The Precedent of Francis Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum and the Beginnings of the Royal Society at The Royal Society

By writing a number of natural histories and above all the Sylva Sylvarum, Bacon set an important but difficult precedent in the history of experimental science, especially among the first natural practitioners gathered around the Royal Society. This talk will explore the notion of ‘experimental metaphysics’, the hybrid discipline that, especially in the Sylva Sylvarum, Bacon left as an awkward legacy to his experimental followers.