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Scientific Method: A Historical and Philosophical Introduction 1st Edition

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Barry Gower (Author)
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Barry Gower (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars 3 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0415122818
ISBN-10: 0415122813
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (December 19, 1996)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0415122813
  • ISBN-13: 978-0415122818
  • Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 6.5 x 9.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,066,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsSolid presentation
By J. Lee Lehman on March 30, 2002
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Gower's survey begins with Galileo and ends with Carnap. In between, he covers a number of prominent scientists - the ones you expect, like Bacon and Newton; and a few you don't, like John Maynard Keynes. He has grouped his subjects according to the nature of their contribution, which means that this reads as the series of essays that it is. Each essay is separately referenced.
There are a few odd omissions, like Descartes (who is nonethless mentioned in passing). But the net result is that, instead of being presented with the historical panorama, one is confronted with a series of ideas - and how they fit into the overall understanding of contemporaries.
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3.0 out of 5 starsGood approach but could do better
By Rafe Champion on October 1, 2012
Format: Hardcover
The question that has to be asked about recent books on the philosophy of science is: Does this book explain the four "turns" that Karl Popper introduced? These are (1) the conjectural turn, to explain that even our best scientific theories may be false, (2) the objective turn to focus on scientific knowledge in its public or objective form, rather than subjective beliefs, (3) the social turn to be aware that the scientist works in a community and there is a need for conventions or "rules of the game" to maintain standards of criticism and best practice and (4) the rehabilitation of metaphysics, in defiance of the positivists and logical empiricists, in the form of "metaphysical research programs".

This book does not score very well on that test however on the positive side the historical approach is very good, introducing concepts in relation to scientific episodes: Galileo on new methods for a new science, Francis Bacon on experiments, Newton on rules for reasoning, Herschel (the astronomer), Mill and Whewell on the use of hypotheses, Venn and Peirce on probabilities as frequencies, Keynes on probability logic, Reichenbach and Popper on induction.

Contrary to the conjectural view of science (small s) this book was written very much in the justificationist or authoritarian mode (the authority of Science with a big S). And so "to explain the success of the work of scientists we will have to refer to the methods they use; we will refer to the reasoning they use to justify their new knowledge." With reference to our confidence in science "we trust scientific theories simply because they are scientific and therefore authoritative or we count claims as scientific and reliable because they are established by scientific methods.' That orientation begs all the questions.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsVery helpful history
By DJG on April 13, 2014
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Many people do not realize that there has been an ongoing debate concerning:

1) What science is (does it require proof of causality)
2) What science can claim (is inductive reasoning valid)
3) How science should be framed (are hypotheses the best framework for science, or should they be abandoned in favor of inductive models that come from experimental evidence)

This book clearly explains how methodology has evolved, and what sort of science was done based on the varying methods in use. It's both a great history and a clear demonstration that science is not "set" but is an evolving practice, based on utility, but also sometimes side-tracked by philosophical concerns, such as the desire for "absolute truth", which has created somewhat of a problem over the years for those who champion probability.

Highly recommended.
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