Overview
Shows how science works and how its theories and methods change
Is the first to build a general theory on scientific change of both theories and methods
Clarifies the distinctive pattern behind seemingly disparate historical episodes
Explains a myriad of aspects of the history of science
Poses many interesting questions for future research
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (5 chapters)
-
Front Matter
-
Metatheory
-
Front Matter
-
-
Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book systematically creates a general descriptive theory of scientific change that explains the mechanics of changes in both scientific theories and the methods of their assessment. It was once believed that, while scientific theories change through time, their change itself is governed by a fixed method of science. Nowadays we know that there is no such thing as an unchangeable method of science; the criteria employed by scientists in theory evaluation also change through time. But if that is so, how and why do theories and methods change? Are there any general laws that govern this process, or is the choice of theories and methods completely arbitrary and random?
Contrary to the widespread opinion, the book argues that scientific change is indeed a law-governed process and that there can be a general descriptive theory of scientific change. It does so by first presenting meta-theoretical issues, divided into chapters on the scope, possibility and assessment of theory of scientific change. It then builds a theory about the general laws that govern the process of scientific change, and goes into detail about the axioms and theorems of the theory.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Hakob Barseghyan is professor of the history and philosophy of science at the University of Toronto. Hakob laid the foundations of the general descriptive theory of scientific change
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Laws of Scientific Change
Authors: Hakob Barseghyan
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17596-6
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-17595-9Published: 26 August 2015
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-36786-6Published: 22 October 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-17596-6Published: 17 August 2015
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVI, 275
Number of Illustrations: 60 b/w illustrations, 63 illustrations in colour
Topics: Philosophy of Science, History of Science