ABSTRACT
Experimentation has been described as "an art that must be learned but cannot be taught. I Such a statement is probably true if it means that experimentation is the total act of discovery and acquisition of new knowledge. Some experimenters, with the most meager and most questionable data, leap to great new concepts, while others, after an exhaustive investigation, miss the obvious. Yet, if one cannot learn the art of discovery, one can surely learn the art of preparing for discovery. An experimenter can be trained to exclude or account for the random effects of the environment, to plan and space the testing sequence, to evaluate possible errors and their cumulative effects, to check and cross-check the developing data, and to layout these data in an orderly and revealing manner. Then, if discovery, great or small, is possible, it is most likely to be made. It is this part of the art of experimentation that forms the experimental methodology part. Basic principles and rules of the experimental methodology in metal cutting as well as instrumentation design, calibration, and application are the main focus of this chapter.
