Hankins Thomas L
Department of History, Box 353560, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
Isis. 2006 Dec;97(4):606-33. doi: 10.1086/509946.
In 1833 John Herschel published a graphical method for determining the orbits of double stars. He argued that his method, which depended on human judgment rather than mathematical analysis, gave better results than computation, given the uncertainty in the data. Herschel found that astronomy and terrestrial physics were especially suitable for graphical treatment, and he expected that graphs would soon become important in all areas of science. He argued with William Whewell and James D. Forbes over the process of induction, over the application of probability, and over the moral content of science. Graphs entered into all these debates; but because they constituted a method, not a metaphysics, they were acceptable to most practicing scientists and became increasingly popular throughout the nineteenth century.
1833年，约翰·赫歇尔发表了一种确定双星轨道的图解法。他认为，鉴于数据存在不确定性，他的方法依赖于人为判断而非数学分析，因此比计算法能得出更好的结果。赫歇尔发现天文学和地球物理学特别适合用图解法处理，他预计图表很快会在所有科学领域变得重要起来。他与威廉·休厄尔和詹姆斯·D·福布斯就归纳过程、概率的应用以及科学的道德内涵展开了争论。图表参与了所有这些争论；但由于它们构成一种方法，而非一种形而上学，所以大多数从事实际研究的科学家都能接受，并且在整个19世纪越来越受欢迎。
