Philosophy of Science
"What is science? Is there a real difference between science and myth? Is science objective? Can science explain everything? This Very Short Introduction provides a concise overview of the main themes of contemporary philosophy of science. Beginning with a short history of science to set the scene, Samir Okasha goes on to investigate the nature of scientific reasoning, scientific explanation, revolutions in science, and theories such as realism and anti-realism. He also looks at philosophical issues in particular sciences, including the problem of classification in biology, and the nature of space and time in physics. The final chapter touches on the conflicts between science and religion, and explores whether science is ultimately a good thing."--Publisher's description.
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What Hacker News says
- I'd recommend Samir Okasha's "Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction" (one of those Oxford University Press "Very short introduction" books that are only around 100 pages) as he has a short section on the Science Wars, and then if you are interested in more, James Robert Brown's "Who Rules in Science?: An Opinionated Guide to the Wars". Both Okasha and Brown are philosophers of science themselves, and do cover both sides, but they are are scientific realists in that they believe that scientific models do reflect to some degree the reality of the universe.
- For those who have a curiosity but lack the patience or inclination to read these books, "Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction" is a highly approachable introduction to this particular branch of philosophy.
http://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Science-Very-Short-Introduc...
- I don't think there's a difference here between Science and Mathematics. Scientists also study their tools (e.g. telescopes are studied by Optics), and use the objects of their studies as tools (e.g. galaxies can be used as telescopes, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_lens).
Edited to add:
The author of the quote tried to find an example that evokes vivid imagery, and also very extreme: it's obviously absurd to confuse a telescope with a galaxy, thinks the layman. While this turns out to be literally false, the point of the quote may still stand. The discipline that studies the real tools of Science is not Science itself, but the Philosophy of Science. This shouldn't be like this, and it wasn't until lately. Philosophy and Science used to be one and the same, but around a hundred years ago they separated, and this hurt both tremendously, in my opinion.
- - Fooled by randomness by Nassim Taleb
- Sapiens by Yuval Harari
- The invention of nature by Andrea Wulf
- The subtle art of not giving a f*ck by Mark Manson
- Philosophy of Science: Very Short Introduction by Samir Okasha
