Bonn 2010 – scientific programme

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AGPhil: Arbeitsgruppe Philosophie der Physik

AGPhil 2: Experiment, Then and Now

AGPhil 2.1: Invited Talk

Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 14:00–14:40, JUR G

Experiment, Then and Now — •Allan Franklin — Department of Physics, UCB 390, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0390

In this paper I will discuss changes in the presentation of experimental results from the early 20th century to the present and their implications. Issues discussed will include: the use of statistics to justify an observation, the exclusion of data, the presentation of the history of previous measurements, the possibility of experimenter bias, and the inclusion of personal comments. Examples will include Edwin Hall's discussions of 'Do Falling Bodies Move South?', and the 'discovery' of the Pentaquark.