How is experimental physics conceptually and historically possible as a natural and empirical science? How have experimental physicists used technology to understand nature? When does experimental physics become metaphysics? Rogers (science, U. of Bath) examines the complex relationships amongst technology, knowledge, nature and truth, including Bhaskar's argument, Galileo's mathematical projection of the six simple machines and the mechanical world-view, the role of mathematics in building metaphysics, the influence of the art of experimentation, and the will to build machines and thought systems.