Scientific Method

by Barry Gower

The central theme running throughout this outstanding new survey is the nature of the philosophical debate created by modern science's foundation in experimental and mathematical method. More recently, recognition that reasoning in science is probabilistic generated intense debate about whether and how it should be constrained so as to ensure the practical certainty of the conclusions drawn. These debates brought to light issues of a philosophical nature which form the core of many scientific controversies today. Scientific A Historical and Philosophical Introduction presents these debates through clear and comparative discussion of key figures in the history of science. Key chapters critically discuss* Galileo's demonstrative method, Bacon's inductive method, and Newton's rules of reasoning* the rise of probabilistic Bayesian' methods in the eighteenth century* the method of hypotheses through the work of Herschel, Mill and Whewell* the conventionalist views of Poincare and Duhem* the inductivism of Peirce, Russell and Keynes* Popper's falsification compared with Reichenbach's enumerative induction* Carnap's scientific method as Bayesian reasoningThe debates are brought up to date in the final chapters by considering the ways in which ideas about method in the physical and biological sciences have affected thinking about method in the social sciences. This debate is analyzed through the ideas of key theorists such as Kuhn, Lakatos, and Feyerabend.

283 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 14, 1996

Reviews

[Dennis Robbins · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book competently reviews the historical thinkers on the philosophy of science. But the language is dense and the reading is difficult. The phrase ”science method” is frequently used without a definition of “science” leaving the reader to equate the two; how is “science method” different from a “method”? The word scientist is used without a definition; who is a scientist and what makes them a scientist? Since the book presents a changing understanding of “science method” then a definition of science and who is scientist must like-wise historically fluctuate.