We propose a categorical framework to reason about scientific explanations: descriptions of a phenomenon meant to translate it into simpler terms, or into a context that has been already understood. Our motivating examples come from systems biology, electrical circuit theory, and concurrency. We demonstrate how three explanatory models in these seemingly diverse areas can be all understood uniformly via a graphical calculus of layered props. Layered props allow for a compact visual presentation of the same phenomenon at different levels of precision, as well as the translation between these levels. Notably, our approach allows for partial explanations, that is, for translating just one part of a diagram while keeping the rest of the diagram untouched. Furthermore, our approach paves the way for formal reasoning about counterfactual models in systems biology.

翻译：我们提出一个范畴论框架来推理科学解释：即将现象转化为更简单术语或已理解语境中的描述。我们的启发式案例来自系统生物学、电路理论和并发计算。我们展示了这些看似不同领域中的三种解释模型如何通过分层props的图形演算得到统一理解。分层props允许在同一现象的不同精度层次上实现紧凑的视觉呈现，以及这些层次之间的转换。值得注意的是，我们的方法支持局部解释，即仅转换图表的一部分而保持其他部分不变。此外，该方法为系统生物学中反事实模型的形式化推理开辟了道路。