Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Models of Discovery

and Other Topics in the Methods of Science

  • Book
  • © 1977

Overview

Authors:
  1. Herbert A. Simon

    1. Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Part of the book series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science (BSPS, volume 54)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 259.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (26 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Testing Theories of Empirical Phenomena

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-6
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Symmetric Tests of the Hypothesis that the Mean of One Normal Population Exceeds That of Another

      • Herbert A. Simon
      Pages 7-13

    3. Statistical Tests as a Basis for ‘Yes—No’ Choices

      • Herbert A. Simon
      Pages 14-19

    4. Prediction and Hindsight as Confirmatory Evidence

      • Herbert A. Simon
      Pages 20-24

    5. On Judging the Plausibility of Theories

      • Herbert A. Simon
      Pages 25-45

  3. Causes and Possible Worlds

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 47-52
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Causal Ordering and Identifiability

      • Herbert A. Simon
      Pages 53-80

    3. On the Definition of the Causal Relation

      • Herbert A. Simon
      Pages 81-92

    4. Spurious Correlation: A Causal Interpretation

      • Herbert A. Simon
      Pages 93-106

    5. Cause and Counterfactual

      • Herbert A. Simon
      Pages 107-131

  4. The Logic of Imperatives

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 133-136
      Download chapter PDF

    2. The Logic of Rational Decision

      • Herbert A. Simon
      Pages 137-153

    3. The Logic of Heuristic Decision Making

      • Herbert A. Simon
      Pages 154-175

  5. Complexity

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 177-181
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Theory of Automata: Discussion

      • Herbert A. Simon
      Pages 182-182

    3. Aggregation of Variables in Dynamic Systems

      • Herbert A. Simon
      Pages 183-213

    4. The Theory of Problem Solving

      • Herbert A. Simon
      Pages 214-244

    5. The Organization of Complex Systems

      • Herbert A. Simon
      Pages 245-261

  6. Theory of Scientific Discovery

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 263-267
      Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

We respect Herbert A. Simon as an established leader of empirical and logical analysis in the human sciences while we happily think of him as also the loner; of course he works with many colleagues but none can match him. He has been writing fruitfully and steadily for four decades in many fields, among them psychology, logic, decision theory, economics, computer science, management, production engineering, information and control theory, operations research, confirmation theory, and we must have omitted several. With all of them, he is at once the technical scientist and the philosophical critic and analyst. When writing of decisions and actions, he is at the interface of philosophy of science, decision theory, philosophy of the specific social sciences, and inventory theory (itself, for him, at the interface of economic theory, production engineering and information theory). When writing on causality, he is at the interface of methodology, metaphysics, logic and philosophy of physics, systems theory, and so on. Not that the interdisciplinary is his orthodoxy; we are delighted that he has chosen to include in this book both his early and little-appreciated treatment of straightforward philosophy of physics - the axioms of Newtonian mechanics, and also his fine papers on pure confirmation theory.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA

    Herbert A. Simon

Bibliographic Information

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation