Fact, Faith and Fiction in the Development of Science The Gifford Lectures Given in the University of St Andrews 1976

In this posthumous book, the late Professor R. Hooykaas (1906-1994) conveys a lifetime of historical thought about modes of scientific advance over the centuries. In what variety of ways has the human mind, with all its subjectivity and its capacity for self-deception, but also its piercing gifts of...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hooykaas, R.
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 1999, 1999
Edition:1st ed. 1999
Series:Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: Springer Book Archives -2004 - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
LEADER 02716nmm a2200337 u 4500
001 EB000721233
003 EBX01000000000000000574315
005 00000000000000.0
007 cr|||||||||||||||||||||
008 140122 ||| eng
020 |a 9789401592956 
100 1 |a Hooykaas, R. 
245 0 0 |a Fact, Faith and Fiction in the Development of Science  |h Elektronische Ressource  |b The Gifford Lectures Given in the University of St Andrews 1976  |c by R. Hooykaas 
250 |a 1st ed. 1999 
260 |a Dordrecht  |b Springer Netherlands  |c 1999, 1999 
300 |a XVI, 462 p  |b online resource 
505 0 |a I. On Natural Theology -- II. Harmony in Nature -- III. The Philosopher’s Stone -- IV. The Undying Fire -- V. A Tunnel Through the Earth -- VI. ‘And the Sun Stood Still’ -- VII. Thinking with the Hands -- VIII. Physical and Mathematical Theories -- IX. Works of Nature, Works of Art -- X. Cleopatra’s Nose -- XI. The ‘Thinking Reed’ -- Notes -- List of Illustrations -- The Text and Editorial Actions with Regard to It -- Acknowledgements 
653 |a Geology 
653 |a Astronomy / Observations 
653 |a Chemistry 
653 |a History 
653 |a Science / Philosophy 
653 |a Astronomy, Observations and Techniques 
653 |a Philosophy of Science 
041 0 7 |a eng  |2 ISO 639-2 
989 |b SBA  |a Springer Book Archives -2004 
490 0 |a Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science 
028 5 0 |a 10.1007/978-94-015-9295-6 
856 4 0 |u https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9295-6?nosfx=y  |x Verlag  |3 Volltext 
082 0 |a 900 
520 |a In this posthumous book, the late Professor R. Hooykaas (1906-1994) conveys a lifetime of historical thought about modes of scientific advance over the centuries. In what variety of ways has the human mind, with all its subjectivity and its capacity for self-deception, but also its piercing gifts of discovery, managed to come to terms with `the whimsical tricks of nature'? Central to this erudite, penetrating, and widely ranging study is Hooykaas's distinction between facts (given by nature yet entirely subject to our mode of interpreting them), faith (broad conceptions like the idea of order, of simplicity, or of harmony), and fictions in the sense of those daring intellectual tools, such as theories and hypotheses and models, which reflect the scientist's creative imagination. Case studies drawn from the history of all branches of science (including chemistry and the earth sciences) and from Antiquity to the present day, serve to widen and to deepen the understanding of every reader (whether a historian of science or not) with a desire to learn more about the realities of the scientific pursuit