Publisher's Synopsis
This book provides an accessible but systematic survey of perspectives on science and rationality through the arguments and ideas of leading thinkers of the twentieth century, including Einstein, Carnap, Popper, Kuhn, Feyerabend, Hempel, Gadamer, Foucault and Harding. It also gives a critical introduction to scientific methodology, including the relationship between theory and observation, the problem of induction, hypothetico-deductive method, truth and progress and explanation in natural and human science. It covers the theory of science part of the syllabus in Examen Philosophicum at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), for which there has hitherto been no unitary text book in English. It is also suited to use on other courses at various levels, as well as being of interest to a wider audience concerned with the philosophical and social problems of science.
