Realism is an enlightening story, a tale which enriches our experience and makes it more intelligible. Yet this wonderful picture of humanity's best efforts at knowledge has been badly bruised by numerous critics. James Robert Brown in Smoke and Mirrors fights back against figures such as Richard Rorty, Bruno Latour, Michael Ruse and Hilary Putnam who have attacked realist accounts of science. But this volume is not wholly devoted to combating Rorty and others who blow smoke in our eyes; the second half is concerned with arguing that there are some amazing ways in which science mirrors the world. The role of abstraction, abstract objects and a priori ways of getting at reality are all explored in showing how science reflects reality. Smoke and Mirrors is a defence of science and knowledge in general as well as a defence of a particular way of understanding science. It is of interest to all those who wish or need to know how science works.

Smoke and Mirrors

James Robert Brown

Routledge

Smoke and Mirrors: How Science Reflects Reality (Philosophical Issues in Science)

Science & Math

Realism is an enlightening story, a tale which enriches our experience and makes it more intelligible. Yet this wonderful picture of humanity's best efforts at knowledge has been badly bruised by numerous critics. James Robert Brown in Smoke and Mirrors fights back against figures such as Richard Rorty, Bruno Latour, Michael Ruse and Hilary Putnam who have attacked realist accounts of science. But this volume is not wholly devoted to combating Rorty and others who blow smoke in our eyes; the second half is concerned with arguing that there are some amazing ways in which science mirrors the world. The role of abstraction, abstract objects and a priori ways of getting at reality are all explored in showing how science reflects reality. Smoke and Mirrors is a defence of science and knowledge in general as well as a defence of a particular way of understanding science. It is of interest to all those who wish or need to know how science works.

Smoke and Mirrors (Philosophical Issues in Science)

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

An investigation into the philosophical implications of thought experiments in science. Brown provides a fascinating account of some of the most influential thought experiments in the history of science.

The Laboratory of the Mind: Thought Experiments in the Natural Sciences (Philosophical Issues in Science)

Philosophy of Mathematics is an excellent introductory text. This student friendly book discusses the great philosophers and the importance of mathematics to their thought. It includes the following topics:* the mathematical image* platonism* picture-proofs* applied mathematics* Hilbert and Godel* knots and nations* definitions* picture-proofs and Wittgenstein* computation, proof and conjecture.The book is ideal for courses on philosophy of mathematics and logic.

Philosophy of Mathematics: An Introduction to a World of Proofs and Pictures (Philosophical Issues in Science)

Philosophy of Mathematics is an excellent introductory text. This student friendly book discusses the great philosophers and the importance of mathematics to their thought. It includes the following topics: * the mathematical image * platonism * picture-proofs * applied mathematics * Hilbert and Godel * knots and nations * definitions * picture-proofs and Wittgenstein * computation, proof and conjecture. The book is ideal for courses on philosophy of mathematics and logic.

Philosophy of Mathematics: A Contemporary Introduction to the World of Proofs and Pictures (Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy)

In his long-awaited new edition of Philosophy of Mathematics, James Robert Brown tackles important new as well as enduring questions in the mathematical sciences. Can pictures go beyond being merely suggestive and actually prove anything? Are mathematical results certain? Are experiments of any real value? This clear and engaging book takes a unique approach, encompassing non-standard topics such as the role of visual reasoning, the importance of notation, and the place of computers in mathematics, as well as traditional topics such as formalism, Platonism, and constructivism. The combination of topics and clarity of presentation make it suitable for beginners and experts alike. The revised and updated second edition of Philosophy of Mathematics contains more examples, suggestions for further reading, and expanded material on several topics including a novel approach to the continuum hypothesis.

Philosophy of Mathematics (Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy)

The Laboratory of the Mind

Taylor&Francis

This remarkable collaboration between a mathematical physicist and a science philosopher concerns foundational and conceptual issues in seismology. Their aim is to present mathematical, physical and philosophical topics in a clear and concise manner. They provide an extensive philosophical discussion of the methods of science and show how seismology fits in. They explain with care and precision the basic structure of seismology, which is built on classical continuum mechanics. Not only do they explain how various models work in seismology, they also include an extensive discussion of the nature of models and idealizations. 
 Readership: Students and researchers in natural sciences and in philosophy of science.

ON FOUNDATIONS OF SEISMOLOGY: BRINGING IDEALIZATIONS DOWN TO EARTH

Business & Money

Michael A Slawinski

Economics

World Scientific Publishing Company

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by James Robert Brown. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by James Robert Brown

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by James Robert Brown. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Smoke and Mirrors

Smoke and Mirrors: How Science Reflects Reality (Philosophical Issues in Science)

Smoke and Mirrors (Philosophical Issues in Science)

The Laboratory of the Mind: Thought Experiments in the Natural Sciences (Philosophical Issues in Science)

Philosophy of Mathematics: An Introduction to a World of Proofs and Pictures (Philosophical Issues in Science)

Philosophy of Mathematics: An Introduction to a World of Proofs and Pictures (Philosophical Issues in Science)

Philosophy of Mathematics (Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy)

Philosophy of Mathematics: A Contemporary Introduction to the World of Proofs and Pictures (Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy)

The Laboratory of the Mind

ON FOUNDATIONS OF SEISMOLOGY: BRINGING IDEALIZATIONS DOWN TO EARTH