Title: Scientific models in philosophy of science /
Authors: Bailer-Jones, Daniela.
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press,
Year: 2009
Subjects: Science Methodology; Science Philosophy
Abstract: "Scientists have used models for hundreds of years as a means of describing phenomena and as a basis tor further analogy. In Scientific Models in Philosophy of Science, Daniela M. Bailer-Jones assembles an original and comprehensive philosophical analysis of how models have been used and interpreted in both historical and contemporary contexts." "Bailer-Jones delineates the many forms models can take (ranging from equations to animals; from physical objects to theoretical constructs). and how they are put to use. She examines early mechanical models employed by nineteenth-century physicists such as Kelvin and Maxwell, describes their roots in the mathematical principles of Newton and others. and compares them to contemporary mechanistic approaches. Bailer-Jones then views the use of analogy in the late nineteenth century as a way of understanding models and linking different branches of science. She reveals how analogies can also be models themselves or can help to create them."--Jacket.
Contents: Foreword / Coryn Bailer-Jones and Peter Machamer -- 1. Scientific Models -- 2. Mechanical Models -- 3. Analogy -- 4. Theories -- 5. Paradigms and Metaphors -- 6. The Semantic View and the Study of Scientific Practice -- 7. Phenomena, Data, and Data Models -- 8. Representation -- 9. Conclusion -- Bibliography of Contemporary Works on Scientific Models.