Styles of Thinking in Science and Technology

Styles of Thinking in Science and Technology
Author: Hermann Hunger
Publisher: Austrian Academy of Sciences
Total Pages:
Release: 2010-04-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9783700168461

In 1994 the late Alistair Crombie published his monumental work Styles of Scientific Thinking in the European Tradition. He distinguished between six styles of inquiry, demonstration and explanation diversified by their subject-matters, by their general conceptions of nature, and by scientific experience (publishers prospectus): postulation, the experimental argument, hypothetical modelling, taxonomy, probabilistic and statistical analysis, historical derivation. Fourteen years later it is time to reconsider this fascinating topical subject, in order to broaden earlier, Eurocentric approaches. Which philosophical, cultural, religious, political, economic influences can be identified that led to certain styles of thinking in science and technology all over the world and that influenced their further development? Cross-cultural influences and interrelations are of special interest. How are such traditions of thinking transmitted to later generations, to other cultures? How are they modified in the course of history? The Third Conference of the European Society for the History of Science would like to give a platform to all historians and philosophers of science and technology who are interested in these questions. Vienna with its scientific and cultural institutions that played a crucial role in the history of science is an ideal city for such an event.

Styles of Knowing

Styles of Knowing
Author: Chunglin Kwa
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2011-06-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780822961512

Now available in English, Styles of Knowing explores the development of various scientific reasoning processes in cultural-historical context. Influenced by historian Alistair Crombie’s Styles of Scientific Thinking in the European Tradition, Chunglin Kwa organizes his book according to six distinct styles: deductive, experimental, analytical-hypothetical, taxonomic, statistical, and evolutionary. Instead of featuring individual scientific disciplines in different chapters, each chapter explains the historical applications of each style’s unique criterion for good science. Kwa shows also how styles have influenced each other and transformed over time. In a chapter written especially for American audiences, Kwa examines how changes in engineering and technology during the twentieth century affected the balance among the various styles of science. Based on extensive research in Greek and Latin primary sources and numerous modern secondary sources, Kwa demonstrates the heterogeneous nature of scientific discovery. This accessible and innovative introduction to scientific change provides a foundational history for the classroom, historians, and nonspecialists.