Scientific Representation

Preface; Introduction: the 'picture theory of science'; PART ONE: REPRESENTATION; 1.1 Representation of, Representation as; 1.2 Imaging, Picturing, and Scaling; 1.3 Pictorial Perspective and the Indexical; PART TWO. WINDOWS, ENGINES, AND MEASUREMENT; 2.1 A Window on the Invisible World (?); 2.2 The Problem of Coordination; 2.3 Measurement as Representation (1) The Physical Correlate; 2.4 Measurement as Representation (2) Information; PART THREE. STRUCTURE AND PERSPECTIVE; 3.1 From the Bildtheorie of science to paradox; 3.2 The Longest Journey: Bertrand Russell; 3.3 Carnap's Lost World and Putnam's Paradox; 3.4 An Empiricist Structuralism; PART FOUR. APPEARANCE AND REALITY; 4.1 Appearance vs. Reality in the Sciences; 4.2 Rejecting the Appearance from Reality Criterion; APPENDICES; BIBLIOGRAPHY; NOTES

Bas van Fraassen is McCosh Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at San Francisco State University. His research interests straddle philosophical logic and philosophy of science, with special interests in empiricism, (anti-)realism, probability, foundations of relativity and quantum physics, and philosophy of literature. Born in the Netherlands, he studied and taught in Canada and thereafter in the USA; heis a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science and of the Netherlands Royal Academy of Sciences. Though concentrating on philosophy of science he makes occasional forays into philosophy of literature and the connections between art, literature, and science.

Although... Scientific Representation began life as a series of lectures, it is far more than that. Indeed, I regard it as the true successor to The Scientific Image, an even more mature exposition of an empiricist philosophy of science for a philosophical audience much broader than technical philosophers of science. It is a book rich in historical and contemporary insights which makes even greater breaks with the past than its influential predecessor. And the ever elegant style makes it a joy to read. Ronald N. Giere, Philosophy of Science Since Representation is contemporary, varied, exciting, provocative, profound, and (sometimes) sketchy... and since Representation is very accessible... it is an ideal book for stirring up discussion in a reading group as well as for introducing students to a host of topics in the philosophy of science that are currently discussed in journals and on conferences. Fred Muller, Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Psychics a typically erudite survey of many kinds of representation both outside science and within, ranging from portraits and perspective to maps and measurement... an ingenious thinker David Papineau, Times Literary Supplement Densely argued, erudite and rich in examples from both art and science... Scientific Representation is both provocative and subtle, and will appeal to a more general readership as well as the science studies aficionado. It takes us beyond the issue of representation in science to offer one of the most well thought-out representations of science currently available. Steven French, Times Higher Education develops a sophisticated, intriguing, subtle line of argument... This is a book with an important and intricate story to tell, and it does it with so much attention to historical, philosophical, scientific, and even artistic details that makes it an occasion for a thousand wider meditations. Michela Massimi, International Studies in the Philosophy of Science One again, van Fraassen has