The Objective Standard Blog
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The Logical Leap: Induction in Physics
Penguin has announced that July 6, 2010 is the official release date for David Harriman’s book, The Logical Leap: Induction in Physics.
Here’s the blurb from the back cover:
A groundbreaking solution to the problem of induction, based on Ayn Rand’s theory of concepts
Inspired by and expanding on a series of lectures by Leonard Peikoff, David Harriman presents a fascinating answer to the problem of induction—that is, the epistemological question of how we know the truth of inductive generalizations.
Ayn Rand presented her revolutionary theory of concepts in her book Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology. As Dr. Peikoff subsequently explored inductive reasoning, he sought out David Harriman, a physicist who has taught philosophy, for his expert knowledge of the scientific discovery process.
Here, Harriman presents the result of collaboration between scientist and philosopher. Beginning with a detailed discussion of the role of mathematics and experiment in validating generalizations in physics—looking closely at the reasoning of scientists such as Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Lavoisier, and Maxwell—Harriman skillfully identifies the method by which we discover laws of nature. Refuting the skepticism that is epidemic in contemporary philosophy of science, Harriman offers demonstrable evidence of the power of reason. He then argues that philosophy itself is an inductive science—the science that teaches the scientist how to be scientific.
You can see the Table of Contents and First Pages at Falling Apple Science Institute, and you can preorder the book at Amazon.com. For a preview of Harriman’s work on this subject, see his TOS articles:
- Enlightenment Science and its Fall
- The 19th-Century Atomic War
- Induction and Experimental Method
- Isaac Newton: Discoverer of Universal Laws
- Proof of the Atomic Theory
- Errors in Inductive Reasoning
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