Routledge Revivals

Nigel Sanitt

First published in 1996, Science as a Questioning Process evaluates scientific theories through from Darwinian evolution to relativity, and from quantum theory to cosmology. It examines these theories, in terms of a trade-off between empirical questions resolved and theoretical questions left unresolved.

1. Introduction 1.1. Presuppositions in Science 1.2. Invariance 1.3. Causality 2. Theory Construction 2.1. Hierarchies and Networks 2.2. Questioning 2.3. Theory as a Relationship Between Questions 3. Graph Theory 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Terminology 3.3. Scientific Theories 3.4. The Right Questions? 3.5. Open-endedness of Questions 3.6. Acyclic Nature of Connections 4. Theory Evolution 4.1. Scientific Progress 4.2. Scientific Explanation 4.3. Theory Change and Comparison 4.4. Question Reformulation and 'Black-Boxing' 4.5. Demarcation Between Questions and Answers 5. Subjective Nature of Science 5.1. Cartesian View of Science 5.2. Translation from Observations and Concepts to Questions 5.3. Relation 5.4. Social Studies of Science 5.5. Scientometrics 6. Evolution and Intelligence 6.1. Evolution of Questioning Ability 6.2. Computer Simulation and Artificial Intelligence 6.3. Neural Nets 6.4. Curiosity 6.5. Structuralism 7. Theories and Questions 7.1. Quantum Mechanics 7.2. Relativity 7.3. Zetetic Analysis 8. Theories in the Making 8.1. Dark Matter 8.2. Anthropic Principle 8.3. Theory of Everything 9. Darwinian Evolution 9.1. Introduction 9.2. Darwin's Theory 9.3. The Extended Phenotype 10. Literature and Science 10.1. Introduction 10.2. Fictional Entities 10.3. Scientific Entities 10.4. Fictional and Scientific Entities: A Comparison 10.5. Beauty 10.6. Scientific Metaphor 10.7. Explanation and Understanding 10.8. Interrogative Aspects of Literature 11. Epilogue