Description
Book SynopsisThis book illustrates scientific methodology through descriptions of how actual scientists create science. The authors present a novel point of view, arguing that the popular perception of science as being strictly objective is untrue and that knowledge is often acquired through very personal means.
Trade Review"Press and Tanur argue that subjectivity has not only played a significant role in the advancement of science, but that science will advance more rapidly if the modern methods of Bayesian statistical analysis replace some of the more classical twentieth-century methods." (SciTech Book News, Vol. 25, No. 3, September 2001)
"An insightful work." (Choice, Vol. 39, No. 4, December 2001)
"compilation of interesting and popular problems" (Short Book Reviews - Publication of the Int. Statistical Institute, December 2001)
"...this book is fascinating." (Short Book Reviews, Vol. 21, No. 3, December 2001)
"...highlight the role of subjectivity in science by describing the life and works of 17 scientists." (Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 973, 2001/23)
Table of ContentsPrefaceix
1. Introduction 1
2. Selecting the Scientists 17
3. Some Well Known Stories of Extreme Subjectivity 23
3.1 Introduction 23
3.2 Johannes Kepler 23
3.3 Gregor Mendel 26
3.4 Robert Millikan 34
3.5 Cyril Burt 37
3.6 Margaret Mead 43
4. Stories of Famous Scientists 49
4.1 Introduction 49
4.2 Aristotle 51
4.3 Galileo Galilei 60
4.4 William Harvey 71
4.5 Sir Isaac Newton 81
4.6 Antoine Lavoisier 95
4.7 Alexander von Humboldt 110
4.8 Michael Faraday 121
4.9 Charles Darwin 128
4.10 Louis Pasleur 143
4.11 Sigmund Freud 156
4.12 Marie Curie 166
4.13 Albert Einstein 177
4.14 Same Conjecrures About the Scientists 189
5. Subjectivity .in Science in Modern Times: The Bayesian Approach199
Appendix: References by Field of Application for Bayesian Statistical Science225
Bibliography 231
Subject Index 249
Name Index 267
