Subject Area: History and Philosophy of Science
This course surveys some central themes in the history and philosophy of science during the past three generations. It starts with the proposition, variously conceived by Popper, Kuhn and Bachelard, that the history of science is marked by periodic revolutions. The work of Kuhn is examined in considerable textual detail, as well as the debates about the progress and rationality of science triggered by Kuhn and his critics. We then turn to new perspectives about how historians and sociologists of science should examine 'discovery', 'experiment' and 'scientific method' which emerged in the aftermath of those debates.