Publisher's Synopsis
The essays of this volume are investigations of the theories of scientific method held by historically important and philosophically significant thinkers from the Renaissance through the 19th century. They are concerned primarily with the philosophy of science, its logic and assumptions, and focus on some persistently recurring philosophical topics and problems, including theory construction, hypothesis, causality, lawfulness, probability, experimental methods, the uniformity of nature and the rule of succession, the universality of causality, and the problem of distinguishing the a priori and empirical elements of science. Some of the authors covered include Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, Isaac Newton, David Hume, John F.W.Herschel, William Whewell, and John Stuart Mill.;Although the chapters are interrelated and contain explicit comparisons, each chapter is a complete study in itself and can be read as a separate unit, thus making this work a useful reference where one can find detailed statements of what these authors said, correlations and developments among their thoughts, and insight into the contemporary discussions of some fundamental and fascinating problems.
