An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Science

Table of contents

1. Title Page
2. Contents
3. About the Author
4. Preface
5. 1. Introduction
   1. 1.1. The History of Science
   2. 1.2. Philosophy of Science or Science as Logic of Ideas
6. 2. Origins of Scientific Enquiry
   1. 2.1. The Palaeolithic (Old Stone) Age
   2. 2.2. The Neolithic (New Stone) Age
   3. 2.3. The Bronze Age
   4. 2.4. The Emergence of Civilizations
7. 3. European Origins of Science
   1. 3.1. Ionia and the Early Greek Contributions
   2. 3.2. Athens and the Classical Greece
   3. 3.3. A Thousand Years of Alexandria (ca. 322 BC-642 AD)
   4. 3.4. The Roman Contribution to Science
8. 4. Contributions of Early India
   1. 4.1. Science in the Vedas
   2. 4.2. Golden Age of Indian Science
9. 5. Science in China
   1. 5.1. Early History
   2. 5.2. Astronomy and Mathematics
   3. 5.4. Chemistry
   4. 5.5. Conclusion
10. 6. The Role of the Arabs in the History of Science
    1. 6.1. Historical Background
    2. 6.2. Arabic Science
    3. 6.3. The Transfer of Knowledge from the East to the West
    4. 6.4. European Science in the Middle Ages
    5. 6.5. Conclusion—The Signs of the Coming Dawn
11. 7. Science in the Middle Ages
    1. 7.1. Europe (1450–1550)
    2. 7.2. The Fall of the Aristotelean Universe: Bruno, Copernicus, and Galileo
    3. 7.3. Medical Sciences
    4. 7.4. Advancement in India
    5. 7.5. Modern Scientific Outlook
    6. 7.6. Descartes (1596–1650)
    7. 7.7. Conclusion
12. 8. Newton and After
    1. 8.1. A Century of Genius
    2. 8.2. The Newtonian Synthesis
    3. 8.3. The Great Contemporaries of Newton
    4. 8.4. Mathematics
    5. 8.5. The Century After Newton
    6. 8.6. Industrial Revolution and its Impact on Science
    7. 8.7. The Mechanistic Universe and Scientific Determinism
    8. 8.8. The French Revolution—The Idea of Progress
13. 9. The Advancing Frontiers: Modern Medicine to Nanotechnology
    1. 9.1. The Emergence of Modern Medicine
    2. 9.2. Frontiers in Biology
    3. 9.3. A Paradigm Shift in Physical Sciences
    4. 9.4. The New Quantum Theory
    5. 9.5. Development of Nuclear Physics
    6. 9.6. IT, BT, and NT—The Frontier Technologies
14. 10. Basic Concepts in the Philosophy of Science
    1. 10.1. Introduction
    2. 10.2. Some Fundamental Questions
    3. 10.3. Scientific Reasoning
    4. 10.4. Scientific Explanation
    5. 10.5. The Components of Science
    6. 10.6. Realism and Anti Realism
    7. 10.7. Reductionism and Unity of Science
15. 11. Some Issues in the Philosophy of Science
    1. 11.1. Scientific Change and Scientific Revolutions
    2. 11.2. Paradigms and Research Programmes
    3. 11.3. Research Traditions (or Problem-Solving) Model
    4. 11.4. Technologism
    5. 11.5. Philosophical Problems in Physics, Biology, and Psychology
    6. 11.6. Science and Values
    7. 11.7. Science and Religion
    8. 11.8. Science and Society
    9. 11.9. Conclusion
16. Bibliography
17. Glossary
18. Copyright
19. Exercises