"For years I've fielded queries from colleagues around the world seeking an anthology through which to teach introductory history and philosophy of science courses by means of primary sources from the Greeks to the twentieth century. My answer has always been discouraging: No one book fills that need. But not anymore.
Philosophy of science came into its own in the 20th century, but the issues at the heart of the subject have been in discussion since antiquity. Philosophy of Science: An Historical Anthology combines excerpts from key historical writings with insightful commentary to provide a text that distinctively follows strands of scientific inquiry, investigation, and debate for the past 2,500 years. Beginning with the Ancient Greeks, Part I examines the roots of ancient and medieval philosophy of science before proceeding to the scientific revolution, with extensive coverage of such scientists as Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton as well as modern philosophers including Descartes, Hume, and Kant. Part II covers philosophy of science in the 20th century, first laying out the fundamental doctrines of the highly influential logical positivist movement and the emergence of its "received view" of scientific theories. It then traces the challenges to the received view and the impact of those challenges on issues in contemporary philosophy of science such as confirmation and observation, methodology, and realism.
Unmatched in breadth and depth, Philosophy of Science: An Historical Anthology is a comprehensive work that will take the reader on a grand tour of the philosophy of science from antiquity to the modern age.
