Instructor: Prof. Robert DiSalle Talbot 408 661-2111 ext. 85763 e-mail: rdisalle@uwo.ca

We will approach these questions in two ways.  First, we will consider contemporary philosophical ideas about the nature
of scientific explanation, the relations between scientific theories and evidence, and the structure of scientific revolutions.
Then, we will test these ideas against real cases of drastic scientific revolutions, such as those of Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, and Darwin.
We will also discuss philosophical problems concerning science and technology that persist in our own time.

 No previous knowledge of science is presupposed; the case studies will be introduced in an elementary and
self-contained way.  We will use original historical works, attempting to retrace the intellectual paths of particular
scientific revolutions.
 

 Lecture Notes Part 1

Lecture Notes, Part 2

Lecture Notes, Part 3