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Author: Colin Howson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1976-09-02
Total Pages: 364
ISBN-13: 9780521211109
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis is a volume of studies on the problems of theory-appraisal in the physical sciences.
Author: Lionel Robbins
Publisher: Springer
Published: 1997-08-04
Total Pages: 447
ISBN-13: 1349127612
DOWNLOAD EBOOKLionel Robbins, Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, 1929-61, was the foremost British economist of his generation as well as being an influential public figure. Although he wrote many articles and books on economic theory, on contemporary issues of economic policy and in the history of economics, many of his academic articles, especially his early ones, have not been reprinted. This volume contains a selection of his major and most influential articles, in theory, policy and history.
Author: Mansoor Niaz
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2011-07-15
Total Pages: 48
ISBN-13: 9400719205
DOWNLOAD EBOOKResearch in science education has recognized the importance of history and philosophy of science (HPS). Nature of science (NOS) is considered to be an essential part of HPS with important implications for teaching science. The role played by textbooks in developing students’ informed conceptions of NOS has been a source of considerable interest for science educators. In some parts of the world, textbooks become the curriculum and determine to a great extent what is taught and learned in the classroom. Given this background and interest, this monograph has evaluated NOS in university level general chemistry textbooks published in U.S.A. Most textbooks in this study provided little insight with respect to the nine criteria used for evaluating NOS. Some of the textbooks, however, inevitably refer to HPS and thus provide guidelines for future textbooks. A few of the textbooks go into considerable detail to present the atomic models of Dalton, Thomson, Rutherford, Bohr and wave mechanical to illustrate the tentative nature of scientific theories --- an important NOS aspect. These results lead to the question: Are we teaching science as practiced by scientists? An answer to this question can help us to understand the importance of NOS, by providing students an HPS-based environment, so that they too (just like the scientists) feel the thrill and excitement of discovering new things. This monograph provides students and teachers guidelines for introducing various aspects of NOS, based on historical episodes.
Author: Mansoor Niaz
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2012-02-06
Total Pages: 264
ISBN-13: 113650866X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe Nature of Science is highly topical among science teacher educators and researchers. Increasingly, it is a mandated topic in state curriculum documents. This book draws together recent research on Nature of Science studies within a historical and philosophical framework suitable for students and teacher educators. Traditional science curricula and textbooks present science as a finished product. Taking a different approach, this book provides a glimpse of “science in the making” — scientific practice imbued with arguments, controversies, and competition among rival theories and explanations. Teaching about “science in the making” is a rich source of motivating students to engage creatively with the science curriculum. Readers are introduced to “science in the making” through discussion and analysis of a wide range of historical episodes from the early 19th century to early 21st century. Recent cutting-edge research is presented to provide insight into the dynamics of scientific progress. More than 90 studies from major science education journals, related to nature of science are reviewed. A theoretical framework, field tested with in-service science teachers, is developed for moving from ‘science in the making’ to understanding the Nature of Science.
Author: Samuel Schindler
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2018-05-24
Total Pages: 263
ISBN-13: 1108395058
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhat are the features of a good scientific theory? Samuel Schindler's book revisits this classical question in the philosophy of science and develops new answers to it. Theoretical virtues matter not only for choosing theories 'to work with', but also for what we are justified in believing: only if the theories we possess are good ones (qua virtues) can we be confident that our theories' claims about nature are actually correct. Recent debates have focussed rather narrowly on a theory's capacity to predict new phenomena successfully, but Schindler argues that the justification for this focus is thin. He discusses several other theory properties such as testability, accuracy, and consistency, and highlights the importance of simplicity and coherence. Using detailed historical case studies and careful philosophical analysis, Schindler challenges the received view of theoretical virtues and advances arguments for the view that science uncovers reality through theory.
Author: F. Stadler
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2004-04-30
Total Pages: 355
ISBN-13: 1402021968
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe articles in this volume deal with the main inferential methods that can be applied to different kinds of experimental evidence. These contributions - accompanied with critical comments - by renowned scholars in the field of philosophy of science aim at removing the traditional opposition between inductivists and deductivists. They explore the different methods of explanation and justification in the sciences in different contexts and with different objectives. The volume contains contributions on methods of the sciences, especially on induction, deduction, abduction, laws, probability and explanation, ranging from logic, mathematics, natural to the social sciences. They present a highly topical pluralist re-evaluation of methodological and foundational procedures and reasoning, e.g. focusing in Bayesianism and Artificial Intelligence. They document the second international conference in Vienna on "Induction and Deduction in the Sciences" as part of the Scientific Network on "Historical and Contemporary Perspectives of Philosophy of Science in Europe", funded by the European Science Foundation (ESF).
Author: Marc Trachtenberg
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2009-02-09
Total Pages: 279
ISBN-13: 140082723X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis is a practical guide to the historical study of international politics. The focus is on the nuts and bolts of historical research--that is, on how to use original sources, analyze and interpret historical works, and actually write a work of history. Two appendixes provide sources sure to be indispensable for anyone doing research in this area. The book does not simply lay down precepts. It presents examples drawn from the author's more than forty years' experience as a working historian. One important chapter, dealing with America's road to war in 1941, shows in unprecedented detail how an interpretation of a major historical issue can be developed. The aim throughout is to throw open the doors of the workshop so that young scholars, both historians and political scientists, can see the sort of thought processes the historian goes through before he or she puts anything on paper. Filled with valuable examples, this is a book anyone serious about conducting historical research will want to have on the bookshelf.
Author: Tilman Sauer
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2016-05-24
Total Pages: 294
ISBN-13: 3319302299
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis volume collects reflections on the role of philosophy in case studies in the history of science. Case studies have played a prominent role in recent history and philosophy of science. They have been used to illustrate, question, explore, or explicate philosophical points of view. Even if not explicitly so, historical narratives are always guided by philosophical background assumptions. But what happens if different philosophies lead to different narratives of the same historical episodes? Can historical case studies decide between competing philosophical viewpoints? What are the criteria that a case study has to fulfill in order to be philosophically relevant? Bringing together leading practitioners in the fields of history and philosophy of the physical and the life sciences, this volume addresses this methodological problem and proposes ways of rendering explicit philosophical assumptions of historical work.
Author: John G McEvoy
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2015-10-06
Total Pages: 343
ISBN-13: 1317324013
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis study offers a critical survey of past and present interpretations of the Chemical Revolution designed to lend clarity and direction to the current ferment of views.
Author: Rebekah Higgitt
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Published: 2016-09-12
Total Pages: 278
ISBN-13: 0822981793
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHiggitt examines Isaac Newton's changing legacy during the nineteenth century. She focuses on 1820-1870, a period that saw the creation of the specialized and secularized role of the "scientist." At the same time, researchers gained better access to Newton's archives. These were used both by those who wished to undermine the traditional, idealised depiction of scientific genius and those who felt obliged to defend Newtonian hagiography. Higgitt shows how debates about Newton's character stimulated historical scholarship and led to the development of a new expertise in the history of science.
