Exploring the Scientific Method

by Gimbel, Steven

• ISBN13: 9780226294834
• ISBN10: 0226294838
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-04-15
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

From their grade school classrooms forward, students of science are encouraged to memorize and adhere to the "scientific method"a model of inquiry consisting of five to seven neatly laid-out steps, often in the form of a flowchart. But walk into the office of a theoretical physicist or the laboratory of a biochemist and ask "Which step are you on?" and you will likely receive a blank stare. This is not how science works. But science does work, and here award-winning teacher and scholar Steven Gimbel provides students the tools to answer for themselves this question: What actually is the scientific method? Exploring the Scientific Methodpairs classic and contemporary readings in the philosophy of science with milestones in scientific discovery to illustrate the foundational issues underlying scientific methodology. Students are asked to select one of nine possible fieldsastronomy, physics, chemistry, genetics, evolutionary biology, psychology, sociology, economics, or geologyand through carefully crafted case studies trace its historical progression, all while evaluating whether scientific practice in each case reflects the methodological claims of the philosophers. This approach allows students to see the philosophy of science in action and to determine for themselves what scientists do and how they ought to do it. Exploring the Scientific Methodwill be a welcome resource to introductory science courses and all courses in the history and philosophy of science.

Author Biography

Steven Gimbel is associate professor of philosophy at Gettysburg College. He is the author or editor of several books, including Defending Einstein: Hans Reichenbach's Writings on Space, Time, and Motion; The Grateful Dead and Philosophy: Getting High-Minded About Love and Haight; and Profiles in Mathematics: Ren Descartes.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. ix
How to Use This Book	p. xiii
Syntactic View of Theories	p. 1
Deductivism	p. 1
Aristotle from Posterior Analytics and Physics	p. 5
René Descartes from Discourse on Method	p. 17
Case Studies	p. 30
Inductivism	p. 43
Francis Bacon from Novum Organum	p. 46
Isaac Newton from Principia	p. 53
John Stuart Mill from A System of Logic	p. 56
Case Studies	p. 75
Hypothetico-Deductivism	p. 91
William Whewell from Novum Organum Renovatum	p. 94
Rudolf Carnap ôTheoretical Procedures in Scienceö	p. 105
R. B. Braithwaite from Scientific Explanation	p. 106
Paradoxes of Evidence	p. 112
David Hume from Enquiry	p. 116
Nelson Goodman from Fact, Fiction, and Forecast	p. 127
Carl G. Hempel from ôStudies in the Logic of Confirmationö	p. 131
Responses to the Paradoxes of Evidence	p. 138
Falsificationism	p. 141
Karl Popper from The Logic of Scientific Discovery	p. 145
Case Studies	p. 155
Holistic View of Theories	p. 171
Pierre Duhem from Aim and Structure of Physical Theory	p. 175
Thomas Kuhn from The Structure of Scientific Revolutions	p. 182
Imre Lakatos the Methodology of Research Programmes	p. 198
Case Studies	p. 214
Semantic View of Theories	p. 231
Marshall Spector ôModels and Theoriesö	p. 235
Max Black ôModels and Archetypesö	p. 256
Ronald Giere from Explaining Science	p. 265
Case Studies	p. 270
Critical Views of Scientific Theories	p. 281
Paul Feyerabend from Against Method	p. 285
Ruth Hubbard ôScience, Facts, and Feminismö	p. 294
Bruno Latour ôThe Science Wars: A Dialogueö	p. 307
Case Studies	p. 315
Closing Remarks	p. 325
Deductivism Case Study Readings	p. 327
Astronomy Aristotle, from On the Heavens	p. 327
Physics Epicurus, from Letter to Herodotus	p. 330
Chemistry Paracelsus, from Hermetic and Alchemical Writings	p. 332
Genetics Aristotle, from On the Generation of Animals	p. 334
Evolutionary Biology Aristotle, from On the Generation of Animals	p. 336
Geology John Woodward, from An Essay towards a Natural History of the Earth	p. 339
Psychology Hippocrates, from The Nature of Man, The Sacred Disease	p. 342
Sociology Thomas Hobbes, from Leviathan	p. 344
Economics Aristotle, from Politics	p. 347
Inductivism Case Study Readings	p. 350
Astronomy Ptolemy, from Almagest	p. 350
Physics James Clerk Maxwell, from ôMoleculesö	p. 357
Chemistry Robert Boyle, from The Skeptical Chymist	p. 362
Genetics Gregor Mendel, from Experiments in Plant Hybridization	p. 365
Evolutionary Biology Carolus Linnaeus, from Systema Naturae	p. 371
Geology James Hutton, from ôSystem of the Earthö	p. 375
Psychology Heinrich Weber, from ôThe Sense of Touch and the Common Feelingö	p. 378
Sociology Émile Durkheim, from Suicide	p. 380
Economics François Quesnay , from ôFarmersö	p. 383
Bibliography	p. 389
Index	p. 391
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