The early modern period had a surprisingly large number of terms for deliberate efforts to expand the existing store of knowledge. Besides the common Latin terms explorare (explore), scrutari (plumb), experiri (test), and probare (try out), the 17th-century encyclopedias used Latin aucupari, (per)contari, requitare, rogitare, (in)vestigare, quaerere, inquirere, sciscere, and (sci)scitari. A person engaged in that effort was a scrutator, perco…