Galileo Galilei

Owen Gingerich

John W. Hessler

Daniel De Simone

Peter K. Machamer

David Marshall Miller

Paul Needham

Eileen Adair Reeves

A facsimile of a copy of Galileo's Sidereus nuncius in the Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections.

"from Doubt to Astonishment"

The Starry Messenger, Venice 1610

This undergraduate textbook introduces some fundamental issues in philosophy of science for students of philosophy and science students. The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 deals with knowledge and values. Chap. 1 presents the classical conception of knowledge as initiated by the ancient Greeks and elaborated during the development of science, introducing the central concepts of truth, belief and justification. Aspects of the quest for objectivity are taken up in the following two chapters. Moral issues are broached in Chap. 4, which discusses some aspects of the use and abuse of science, taking up the responsibilities of scientists in properly conducting their business and decision-makers in their concerns with the import of science for society. Part 2 contrasts the view of scientific progress as the rejecting of old hypotheses and theories and replacing them with new ones, represented by Karl Popper, with the conception of progress as accumulating knowledge, saving as much as possible from older theories, represented by Pierre Duhem. A concluding chapter defends the natural attitude of taking the theories of modern science to be literally true, i.e. realism, in the face of arguments drawn partly from the history of scientific progress in criticism of this stance.

An Objective View

Getting to Know the World Scientifically

Paul Thagard

John Woods

Robin Findlay Hendry

Andrea Woody

Philosophy of Chemistry investigates the foundational concepts and methods of chemistry, the science of the nature of substances and their transformations. This groundbreaking collection, the most thorough treatment of the philosophy of chemistry ever published, brings together philosophers, scientists and historians to map out the central topics in the field. The 33 articles address the history of the philosophy of chemistry and the philosophical importance of some central figures in the history of chemistry; the nature of chemical substances; central chemical concepts and methods, including the chemical bond, the periodic table and reaction mechanisms; and chemistry's relationship to other disciplines such as physics, molecular biology, pharmacy and chemical engineering. This volume serves as a detailed introduction for those new to the field as well as a rich source of new insights and potential research agendas for those already engaged with the philosophy of chemistry. Provides a bridge between philosophy and current scientific findings Encourages multi-disciplinary dialogue Covers theory and applications

Philosophy of Chemistry

Horst Bredekamp

Irene Brückle

Galileo’s O, Volume III, is perhaps without peer in the history of the book. In this work, historians in various fields revise the results they presented in the first two volumes, which focused on the New York copy of Sidereus Nuncius, written in 1610. The analysis of this book was conceived as a uniquely multidisciplinary and cooperative undertaking, and many of its findings remain valid. Yet the subject of analysis proved to be the work of an international group of forgers. Volume III describes the chronology and methods by which the discovery of forgery was made – a veritable watershed moment in the continuing struggle between the ever-more refined methods of forgers and new methods used to apprehend them. Ultimately, the work also provides insight into the psychology of specialists who “research themselves” in order to prevent similar errors in the future.

Unmasking the New York Sidereus Nuncius

A Galileo Forgery

Jan Faye

Uwe Scheffler

Max Urchs

One of the most basic problems in the philosophy of science involves determining the extent to which nature is governed by laws. This volume presents a wide-ranging overview of the contemporary debate and includes some of its foremost participants. It begins with an extensive introduction describing the historical, logical and philosophical background of the problems dealt with in the essays. Among the topics treated in the essays is the relationship between laws of nature and causal laws as well as the role of ceteris paribus clauses in scientific explanations. Traditionally, the problem of the unity of science was intimately connected to the problem of understanding the unity of nature. This fourth volume of Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science tackles these problems as part of our consideration of the most fundamental aspects of scientific understanding.

Nature's Principles

In this work, historians in various fields revise the results presented in the first two volumes of the series, which analyzed the New York copy of Sidereus Nuncius. While many of their findings remain valid, the subject of analysis proved to be a forgery. Volume III describes how the discovery of forgery was made - a watershed moment in the continuing struggle between forgers and those who seek to apprehend them.

Paul Needham

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