Conceptual Revolutions
eBook - PDF

Conceptual Revolutions

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

Conceptual Revolutions

About this book

In this path-breaking work, Paul Thagard draws on the history and philosophy of science, cognitive psychology, and the field of artificial intelligence to develop a theory of conceptual change capable of accounting for all major scientific revolutions. The history of science contains dramatic episodes of revolutionary change in which whole systems of concepts have been replaced by new systems. Thagard provides a new and comprehensive perspective on the transformation of scientific conceptual systems.


Thagard examines the Copernican and the Darwinian revolutions and the emergence of Newton's mechanics, Lavoisier's oxygen theory, Einstein's theory of relativity, quantum theory, and the geological theory of plate tectonics. He discusses the psychological mechanisms by which new concepts and links between them are formed, and advances a computational theory of explanatory coherence to show how new theories can be judged to be superior to previous ones.

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Yes, you can access Conceptual Revolutions by Paul Thagard in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Science History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Contents
  5. List of Figures
  6. List of Tables
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Chapter 1 The Problem of Revolutionary Conceptual Change
  9. Chapter 2 Concepts and Conceptual Systems
  10. Chapter 3 Conceptual Change
  11. Chapter 4 Explanatory Coherence
  12. Chapter 5 Theory Dynamics, Rationality, and Explanation
  13. Chapter 6 The Darwinian Revolution
  14. Chapter 7 The Geological Revolution
  15. Chapter 8 Revolutions in Physics
  16. Chapter 9 Revolutions in Psychology?
  17. Chapter 10 Conceptual Change in Scientists and Children
  18. References
  19. Index