and in fact Bacon's most important kind of experiment was one that

事实上培根所做的最重要的一类实验是
"finally decides between two rival hypotheses,

在两个对立假说中下结论
proving the one and disproving the other.

证明其一而否决另一个
So you can do all sorts of experiments

你可以做各式各样的实验
and just be collecting butterflies--

或只是采集蝴蝶
no, I don't mean to insult people who collect butterflies,

不我并非要侮辱采集蝴蝶的人
it's a fine thing to do.

这是一件好事
But there's something special about experiments

那些真正设计用来解决问题的实验
that really are designed to answer a question.

还有一些特殊之处
Now Bacon devised a name for such experiments,

培根为这样的实验定了一个名称
and they're based on this model,

这些实验都基于这样一个模型
that you have a road that diverges

你在一条岔路上