Exploring the Scientific Method
eBook - PDF

Exploring the Scientific Method

Cases and Questions

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Exploring the Scientific Method

Cases and Questions

About this book

From their grade school classrooms forward, students of science are encouraged to memorize and adhere to the "scientific method"—a model of inquiry consisting of five to seven neatly laid-out steps, often in the form of a flowchart. But walk into the office of a theoretical physicist or the laboratory of a biochemist and ask "Which step are you on?" and you will likely receive a blank stare. This is not how science works. But science does work, and here award-winning teacher and scholar Steven Gimbel provides students the tools to answer for themselves this question: What actually is the scientific method?

           
Exploring the Scientific Method pairs classic and contemporary readings in the philosophy of science with milestones in scientific discovery to illustrate the foundational issues underlying scientific methodology. Students are asked to select one of nine possible fields—astronomy, physics, chemistry, genetics, evolutionary biology, psychology, sociology, economics, or geology—and through carefully crafted case studies trace its historical progression, all while evaluating whether scientific practice in each case reflects the methodological claims of the philosophers. This approach allows students to see the philosophy of science in action and to determine for themselves what scientists do and how they ought to do it.

            
Exploring the Scientific Method will be a welcome resource to introductory science courses and all courses in the history and philosophy of science.        

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Yes, you can access Exploring the Scientific Method by Steven Gimbel in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Biological Sciences & Epistemology in Philosophy. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
140 
syntactic 
view 
of 
theories
Notes
1. 
See 
Immanuel 
Kant, 
“e 
Transcendental 
Analytic,” 
in 
Critique 
of 
Pure 
Reason
, 
21–43 
(Buf-
falo, 
NY: 
Prometheus, 
1990).
2. 
Hans 
Reichenbach, 
Experience 
and 
Prediction
(Chicago: 
University 
of 
Chicago 
Press, 
1938), 
esp. 
chapter 
5, 
“Probability 
and 
Induction” 
(297–406).
3. 
W. 
V. 
O. 
Quine, 
“Natural 
Kinds,” 
in 
Ontological 
Relativity 
and 
Other 
Essays
, 
26–68 
(New 
York: 
Columbia 
University 
Press, 
1969).
4. 
Gilbert 
Harman, 
“Simplicity 
as 
a 
Pragmatic 
Criterion 
for 
Deciding 
What 
Hypotheses 
to 
Take 
Seriously” 
in 
Grue!
, 
ed. 
Douglas 
Stalker, 
153–72 
(Chicago: 
Open 
Court, 
1994). 
Stalker 
col-
lects 
fiſteen 
approaches 
to 
unraveling 
Goodman’s 
riddle 
and 
is 
a 
must-read 
for 
anyone 
deeply 
bothered 
by 
the 
argument.
5. 
Peter 
Achinstein, 
e 
Nature 
of 
Explanation.
(Oxford: 
Oxford 
University 
Press, 
1983), 
esp. 
“e 
Paradox 
of 
the 
Ravens” 
(367–74).

Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. Introduction
  3. How to Use This Book
  4. Syntactic View of Theories
  5. Holistic View of Theories
  6. Semantic View of Theories
  7. Critical Views of Scientific Theories
  8. Closing Remarks
  9. Deductivism Case Study Readings
  10. Inductivism Case Study Readings
  11. Bibliography
  12. Index