Mods/Thaumcraft/Research

Overview
To create and use magical devices, the player will need to research the nature of the things around them, and from this deduce the details of how to create their desired items. This begins with the use of the Thaumometer to scan various things (objects, blocks, creatures, items, and nodes) thus accumulating research points in each of the magical ../Aspect/s. (Each player does start with a small supply of research points, about 16 for each primal aspect.) Use of a ../Research Table/ then lets the player explore for recipes using those aspects. The research table can also be used to combine aspects into new aspects; the (necessary) example from the Thaumonomicon is that Aqua (water) and Terra (earth) combine to form Victus (life). Every aspect discovered either by scanning or research will be listed with its recipe in the Thaumonomicon.

Scanning
To gather research points you need a Thaumometer, which can be crafted from one of every type of aura shard, plus a bit of gold and glass. When you make your first one, you should also make a set of Scribing Tools as below, and keep paper in your inventory -- as you go about scanning things, you will occasionally get research notes (see below) for free.

Nearly every block, object, mob (and other entity), and especially node, has one or more aspects associated with it (read the entry in the Thauminomicon for more info). Known things will have those aspects displayed when viewing them through the Thaumometer. (Non-placeable items can be scanned by dropping them and scanning the dropped item.) By right-holding the Thaumometer, an unknown object can be scanned, and you will gain research points equal to the monster, entity, or item's points. For a node, you will gain research points equal to about 1/10 of the node's strength in each aspect.

Note that a monster or item can't be scanned and "learned", unless you know each of the component aspects for the scanned thing's aspects. However, when you scan anything that teaches you a new aspect, you get double points for that scan. (So it's better to discover aspects on mineral blocks, rather than individual ingots or pieces.) New aspects will automatically be entered into your Thaumonomicon. You'll still want to use the research table to make Victus (see below), but aside from that, it's time to go around scanning everything you own and everything you see.

Here is a spoileriffic routine for discovering all the aspects. While the page doesn't mention it, it's also better to discover aspects from storage blocks than from loose items; that is, a Block of Iron instead of an iron ingot.

Researching
Start off by reading the Thaumonomicon's entry on research. Then make your Research Table, by building a Table and clicking it with a set of Scribing Tools. Add some paper, and you're good to go. While you're at it, you might make your ../Arcane Crafting Table/, by placing a third table and zapping it with your wand.

There are three ways to get a research note to explore. Most commonly, you will spend one research point of a given aspect to look into some topic related to that aspect (or try to -- if there is no available research using that aspect, the point is wasted). You sometimes get research notes from scanning as well, and you can rarely assemble one from Ancient Fragments of lost research. The note is researched by playing a mini-game to connect all the nodes of the research map. The research topic will have one or two other aspects as well, and you then spend points of all of these aspects to activate or deactivate their runes. Some non-obvious points:
 * When you start a research note, one node will be active, your "starting node". This node has to be at one end of the connected chain, not in the middle.  The chain can't fork, either.
 * Each aspect will activate the same number of runes. This can be used to spot and pre-place the runes for other aspects, before you've even found them -- for example, if the first aspect activates three runes, look for other runes which have exactly three of them on the page.  Note that some "wrong' aspects will be marked as "red herrings", which will remove some of the inactive runes from the page.
 * Not all minigames are solvable. If confronted with an unsolvable or overly difficult research note, you can discard the note and try again.  After activating your first aspect, look at the distance between the nodes, and figure out how many runes will be needed to make all the connections.  Look at how many nodes you activated, and remember that the early topics only have two or three aspects, each of which will activate the same number of runes.  (Some of the advanced topics do have four or even five aspects.)  If you can't find enough aspects to light enough runes for the job, then there's no need to waste research points on an unsolvable puzzle.  Be particularly suspicious if the nodes are widely scattered.
 * You can use inactive runes to block unwanted connections. Be warned that they might be removed by a red herring!
 * You can also combine aspects using the list in the Thaumonomicon, but be warned this can cost a lot of points -- you normally only get one point of the combined aspect for a point each of the components.
 * You do get an extra point if you are also discovering the aspect, as with making Victus. It's generally better to discover aspects by scanning, because the bonus will be higher, but you won't find Victus elsewhere, and you need it early.
 * The combinations are sometimes obvious, sometimes not so much, but every aspect you discover by any means will be listed with its recipe in the Thaumonomicon. A tip:  Perdito often gives a "broken" or reversed version of the aspect you combine it with.  Knowing that, how might you produce Mortuus (death)?  Ordo's combinations are less obvious, but often give a "next level" or "more magical" connection from an aspect it's combined with.

Once you have completed a research note, it will change from an flat page to a tied scroll. Put that in your hotbar and right-click it to gain the new ability or unlock the recipe(s) that it represents.

Here is an extensive guide to research, with many spoilers..

Ghost points
Normally when you run out of an aspect, it will be removed from the list in the table. However, it is possible to get "ghost points" for various aspects, indicated by a "shiny" marker on the aspect's icon. If you run out of an aspect with a ghost point, you will be left with an unnumbered icon. You can use this one more time before it disappears, and when you do so, it will eventually recover and reappear. Ghost points are obtained by placing crystal clusters and/or bookshelves near your research table (within 9 blocks or so). Crystal clusters will give a ghost point for their element, and a mixed crystal cluster will provide one of the primal aspects at random. Bookshelves can give any (eventually, all) of the other aspects, but it will take time for them to "cover" all the aspects.

Ghost points allow your research to proceed slowly, even when you've used up all points for a key aspect. Of course, you can also try to earn more points by scanning new items or monsters (try making some of the stuff you've been researching), and especially by finding and scanning new nodes. Special tip: Ghost points are figured separately for each research table, so it is possible to get extras by maintaining two or three such tables together.