Overview
- Places scientific practice at the centre of the philosophy of models
- Provides material for a comprehensive theory of scientific representation
- Can be used as a primer and introduction to cutting-edge research questions
- Sheds new light on how mathematical notation and formalisms guide model construction
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Philosophy (BRIEFSPHILOSOPH)
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Table of contents (5 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
Reviews
“The book finds its strength in Gelfert’s functional approach, which enables the author to bring cohesion to the vast sea of resources in the philosophy of modelling, and makes the text’s relevance for historians and scientists clear. Gelfert’s focus on the various uses of models and on case studies from the history of science create a work from which the philosopher, the historian and the scientist can learn.” (Lydia Braunack-Mayer, Annals of Science, Vol. 74 (3), April, 2017)
“It is much more than a philosophical primer, presenting an original contribution to our understanding of scientific modelling. … It is an innovative examination of several topics that merit further work from philosophers of science interested in scientific representation and modelling. For such work, Gelfert has provided fruitful conceptual tools and theoretical analyses.” (Tarja Knuuttila, BJPS Review of Books, bjpsbooks.wordpress.com, 2017)
“Axel Gelfert’s recent book How to do Sciencewith Models: A Philosophical Primer constitutes a short but important contribution to a growing literature devoted to exploring a number of philosophical issues raised by the ubiquity of models in the sciences, the great variety of existing models and modeling practices, as well as their indispensability to the scientific enterprise. … the book is an outstanding and original piece of scholarship.” (Sergio A. Gallegos, Metascience, Vol. 26, 2017)
“Gelfert has produced a concise, clear, and readable book that is both a review of the state of the art and a personal reflection on the significance of modelling in science. … The functional approach to modelling adopted by Gelfert seems to be the most fruitful one in the present state of the philosophical research on the topic.” (Alejandro Cassini, International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol. 31 (1), 2017)
“If you are interested in the philosophical foundation of modeling, this book is really a good start. … this primer should be on the reading list of every post-graduate and scholar of M&S to appreciate the philosophical foundations that are part of the Discipline of M&S.” (Andreas Tolk, SCS Newsletter, The Society for Modeling & Simulation International, April, 2016) “This is a truly excellent book. Not only does it provide insightful analysis of contemporary philosophical accounts of modelling, but it draws our attention to important yet unexplored questions related to the exploratory function of models and their connection to issues in the philosophy of technology. By focusing our attention on a broad range of examples it provides the best systematic treatment of scientific modelling to appear in many years. Highly recommended!“ (Margaret Morrison, University of Toronto)Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: How to Do Science with Models
Book Subtitle: A Philosophical Primer
Authors: Axel Gelfert
Series Title: SpringerBriefs in Philosophy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27954-1
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Author(s) 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-27952-7Published: 08 February 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-27954-1Published: 21 December 2015
Series ISSN: 2211-4548
Series E-ISSN: 2211-4556
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: X, 135
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations, 7 illustrations in colour
Topics: Philosophy of Technology