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There have been several book classification schemes, for example: Dewey Decimal, Library of Congress, etc. Have there been any experiment classification schemes, i.e. sets of criteria by which to classify (say) Eratosthenes' experiment for the measurement of the earth, or Fletcher's experiment for the measurement of the electric charge of the electron?

I suppose that Mill's methods of induction (1843) implicitly categorize many experiments, but is this the best we've got?

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    $\begingroup$ To what end? Define the purpose of such a scheme. $\endgroup$
    – Jon Custer
    Jun 19 at 23:51
  • $\begingroup$ @JonCuster I'm not sure whether such a scheme would serve a purpose. I suspect that that would be easier to determine after review of the attempts. But conjecturally: one purpose could be to group related experiments together both as an aid to the memory and to facilitate both learning and developing the scientific method. But need everything have a purpose? What is the purpose of thinking about irrational numbers? They can all be approximated by rational numbers as closely as one pleases. I think that the categorization of experiments is itself of interest. $\endgroup$
    – Noah J
    Jun 22 at 19:42
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    $\begingroup$ How do you feel about the Physics Subject Headings from the American Physical Society (physh.org)? Is that a classification scheme? $\endgroup$
    – Jon Custer
    Jun 22 at 19:46
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    $\begingroup$ @JonCuster Fascinating! Surely it is a classification scheme, or even several bundled together. The list of Experimental Techniques (at physh.org/…) comes pretty close to what I was looking for, albeit it only covers physics. $\endgroup$
    – Noah J
    Jun 22 at 19:55
  • $\begingroup$ @JonCuster is there such an organised database for physical experiments? just as an example, if I wanted to find the most modern implementations of the cavendish experiment, where should I look etc. $\endgroup$
    – Hisham
    Jun 22 at 20:24

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