Scientific Method in Brief

Foreword James R. Miller; Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Four bold claims; 3. A brief history of truth; 4. Science's contested rationality; 5. Science's presuppositions; 6. Science's powers and limits; 7. Deductive logic; 8. Probability; 9. Inductive logic and statistics; 10. Parsimony and efficiency; 11. Case studies; 12. Ethics and responsibilities; 13. Science education; 14. Conclusions; References; Index.

Hugh G. Gauch, Jr is a Senior Research Specialist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, New York. He teaches Cornell's course on scientific method and for the last four decades his research has focused on the statistical analysis of ecological and agricultural data. He is author of Scientific Method in Practice (Cambridge University Press, 2002), which is the basis for this more concise and student-focused text.

'A welcome, and well-informed, introduction for budding scientists to the general principles undergirding the rationality of science. The book draws powerful attention to the fact that future scientific advance itself depends on a proper understanding of scientific method.' Roger Trigg, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Warwick, Senior Research Fellow, University of Oxford, and founding chair of the British Philosophical Association 'There is a detailed table of contents, a thorough list of references, and a good index. This detailed explanation of scientific method is laid out so as to be useful as a text for educational courses. To this end, each chapter concludes with a summary and a set of study questions. However, the book is also a thorough and practical description of scientific philosophy and method, which will be useful to practitioners as well.' David B. Henderson, Computing Reviews 'Excellent references and an index support the text. This reviewer wishes this book had been available when he was a student.' R. E. Buntrock, Choice 'Scientific Method in Brief is well suited for use in undergraduate courses on scientific method or the nature of science. In fact, for the former sort of class, [this] is one of the best, if not the best, book[s] to use ... an excellent book to use in lower division undergraduate courses on scientific method, the nature of science, and many more. I highly recommend it.' Kevin McCain, Teaching Philosophy