ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the theme of practical knowledge in order to contribute to the growing body of literature that explores the relationship between craft traditions and the emergence of experimental science. It discusses the History of Science with a Philosophy of Science that is informed by the existential phenomenology of Martin Heidegger. The chapter highlights aspects of experimental practice that are often overlooked by conventional historical scholarship. It outlines the historiography of the conventional division between craft based and theoretical knowledge. The chapter explores the central role accorded to practice in the epistemology of early modern craftwork. It utilizes a phenomenological perspective to show how experimentalists’ attempts to distance themselves from practical contexts led to the development of epistemological practices that were based around forms of experience fundamentally different from those central to craft traditions. Heidegger’s thought suggests a fundamental difference between forms of experience common in craftwork and experimental practice.
