Reasoning in Biological Discoveries: Essays on Mechanisms, Interfield Relations, and Anomaly Resolution

by Lindley Darden

• ISBN13: 9780521858878
• ISBN10: 0521858879
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-06-26
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Reasoning in Biological Discoveries brings together a series of essays which focus on one of the most heavily debated topics of scientific discovery today. Collected together and richly illustrated for the first time in this edition, Darden's essays represent a ground-breaking foray into one of the major problems facing scientists and philosophers of science. Divided into three sections, the essays focus on broad themes, notably historical and philosophical issues at play in discussions of biological mechanism; and the problem of developing and refining reasoning strategies, including interfield relations and anomaly resolution. Published here for the first time, Darden summarizes the philosophy of discovery and elaborates on the role that mechanisms play in biological discovery. Throughout the book, she uses historical case studies to extract advisory reasoning strategies for discovery. Examples in genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, immunology, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology reveal the process of discovery in action.

Table of Contents

Part I. Biological Mechanisms: 1. Thinking about mechanisms with Peter Machamer and Carl F. Craver

2. Discovering mechanisms in neurobiology: the case of spatial memory with Carl F. Craver

3. Strategies in the interfield discovery of the mechanism of protein synthesis with Carl F. Craver

4. Relations among fields: Mendelian, cytological and molecular mechanisms

Part II. Reasoning Strategies: Relating Fields, Resolving Anomalies: 5. Interfield theories with Nancy Maull

6. Theory construction in genetics

7. Relations among fields in the evolutionary synthesis

8. Selection type theories with Joseph A. Cain

9. Strategies for anomaly resolution: diagnosis and redesign

10. Exemplars, abstractions, and anomalies: representations and theory change in Mendelian and molecular genetics

11. Strategies for anomaly resolution in the case of adaptive mutation

Part III. Discovering Mechanisms: Construction, Evaluation, Revision: 12. Strategies for discovering mechanisms: construction, evaluation, revision.