- Experimentalist
"Experimentalist" is a blanket term for all sorts of
scientist s engaged more inexperiment al activity than in thetheoretical side of theirscience s.The word is essentially equivalent to "experimenter." The latter word, however, emphasizes what the person is actually doing; "experimentalist," by contrast, highlights what the person likes to do or finds important.
"Experimentalist" is also used in reference to a
personality type that builds up gradually to a work. Here the term is not limited toscience , but is frequently used in relation toartist s. Famous "experimentalists" could includeCézanne ,Mark Twain orRobert Frost . The opposite of being an Experimentalist is to be aConceptualist .Colloquially, an Experimentalist has been defined as "one who prefers to ascertain by finding out."
References
* [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.07/genius.html Wired Article talking about the "Types of Genius"] David W. Galenson, Old Masters and Young Geniuses (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006).David W. Galenson, Artistic Capital (New York and London: Routledge, 2006).
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