New scientific ideas are subjected to an extensive process of
evaluation and validation by the scientific community. Until the
early 1980s, this process of validation was thought to be governed
by objective criteria, whereas the process by which individual
scientists gave birth to new scientific ideas was regarded as
inaccessible to rational study. In this book Gerald Holton takes an
opposing view, illuminating the ways in which the imagination of
the scientist functions early in the formation of a new insight or
theory. In certain crucial instances, a scientist adopts an
explicit or implicit presupposition, or thema, that guides his work
to success or failure and helps determine whether the new idea will
draw acclaim or controversy. Using firsthand accounts gleaned from
notebooks, interviews, and correspondence of such twentieth-century
scientists as Einstein, Fermi, and Millikan, Holton shows how the
idea of the scientific imagination has practical implications for
the history and philosophy of science and the larger understanding
of the place of science in our culture. The new introduction, "How
a Scientific Discovery Is Made: The Case of High-Temperature
Superconductivity," reveals the scientific imagination at work in
current science, by disclosing the role of personal motivations
that are usually hidden from scientific publications, and the
lessons of the case for science policy today.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
