Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
£2.59
Brilliant introduction - This was a brilliant introduction to the philosophy of science and must be one of the best books on the market.I particularly enjoyed the discussion about Newton and Leibnitz s opposing theories on absolute and relative frames of reference (in space).
A little book of big ideas - A great little book that introduces the major debates with enough detail to whet the appetite but not enough to intimidate. As befits a book of this nature, the author sensibly avoids polemic and other rhetorical baggage in favour of clear writing, leaving the reader free to concentrate on the ideas. The result is straightforward, unpretentious and concise.
Great little book - I found this book very clear, comprehensible and enjoyable.It starts off with a brief history of modern physics and some biology. It then discusses deduction and induction and goes on look at explanation in science and outlines problems associated with these ideas. It then outlines the realist v anti-realist debate.The philosophy of Popper and Kuhn are critically outlined and there is a chapter on the critics of science. There is also a chapter on specific problems in physics, biology and psychology.Because there is obviously limited space in a book of this size, it is unable to cover some of the important philosophies of science that have been developed since Kuhn.However, I thought this book was well written and ideal for the layman wanting an intoduction to this field, and certainly whets the appetite to find out more. Thoroughly recommended.
A fantastic introduction - The A Very Short Introduction series doesn t always come up with good books, but this one is a gem. It really is. It introduces the basics first: deduction, induction, etc. and goes on to talk about the problem of induction, Hume s criticism of it, whether thinking about probability and causation can help. The discussion moves then onto realists vs. anti-realists. The highly influential philosopher Thomas Kuhn is also well covered. Finally, the book covers some problems in biology and physics and generally that result from science. The book is brief and you can read it in a long evening or maybe two short ones, if you re not already familiar with the subject. Most importantly, the author manages to realise that newcomers to the subject deserve a gentle ride, and he does this by writing very accessibly and using plenty of easy-to-understand examples. I would recommend this to anybody trying to find a way into the philosophy of science. Of course, being a very short introduction this book doesn t tend to go into very much detail or cover everything that philosophy of science entails. But a very short introduction can t have everything. For beginners I think it is ideal, and that is what it aims to be. Highly recommended.
Reasonable Overview For The Interested - What do philosophers think about science? This book provides a brief history of the philosophy of science, describes some logical assumptions in the practice of science and problems in science, and discusses Thomas Kuhn s scientific revolutions. The book concludes with a discussion on science and society.Philosophy of science, as described in this book, seems to have become a rather esoteric subject removed the daily practice of scientists and the everyday use of science. Some questions that spring to mind but which are not covered in this book: Does the publication and independent verification of results lead to the self-correcting nature of science? Why is the simplest explanation the best? How can scientists who cannot easily perform experiments, such as astronomers and sociologists, make verifiable theories?Chapter 6 presents three problems in science: Newton s view of absolute space, the classification (by feature or by genetics) of living creatures and the whether the mind is modular or not. It s not clear to me how the philosophy of science can help in resolving these problems. Newton s view was probably driven by his desire to prove the literal truth of the Bible. In this day and age of automated indexing systems, does it really matter which method is used to classify creatures? Finally, shouldn t scientists collect more data before deciding if the mind is modular or not?This book covers a number of topics in the field but fortunately doesn t get bogged down in a deep technical discussion on any single topic. It is a reasonable overview of the topic for the interested reader and one of the better books in the Very Short Introduction series.