On Collecting: Transforming Nature into Evidence

Michael Ohl

Finding constitutes a fundamental epistemic act within processes of scientific discovery. The objects of finding can vary considerably. In many, if not most, instances of scientific discovery, finding is preceded by – or embedded within – a necessary phase of collecting. In the natural sciences, this may involve not only material objects but also observations, measurements, data points, and individual cases. Both material entities and immaterial data or observations must be transformed in ways that render them scientifically operable. More generally, collected items can be understood as epistemically functionalized units.
The transition from individual objects and cases to scientific evidence occurs through processes of serialization and repetition. Systematically organized scientific collecting is the technique that generates such seriality and repetition. Only within a series do statistical analysis, type formation, the recognition of regularities, and the identification of deviations become possible. This, in turn, enables inductive reasoning and establishes the conditions for reevaluation and institutionalized openness. Collecting can therefore be described as an epistemological infrastructure of scientific discovery.
The relationship between structured collecting and finding as a component of scientific discovery, however, still requires closer and more detailed examination.