Scientific Thinking
- Publisher
- Broadview Press
- Initial publish date
- Mar 1997
- Category
- Logic
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781551111308
- Publish Date
- Mar 1997
- List Price
- $43.75
Add it to your shelf
Where to buy it
Description
Scientific Thinking is a practical guide to inductive reasoning—the sort of reasoning that is commonly used in scientific activity, whether such activity is performed by a scientist, a reporter, a political pollster, or any one of us in day-to-day life. The book provides comprehensive coverage of such topics as confirmation, sampling, correlations, causality, hypotheses, and experimental methods. Martin’s writing confounds those who would think that such topics must be dry-as-dust, presenting ideas in a lively and engaging tone and incorporating amusing examples throughout. This book underlines the importance of acquiring good habits of scientific thinking, and helps to instill those habits in the reader. Stimulating questions and exercises are included in each chapter.
About the author
Robert M. Martin is Professor of Philosophy at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia in Canada. He has authored several books on philosophy, including The Philosopher's Dictionary.
Editorial Reviews
“Robert Martin’s book is an excellent introduction to scientific thinking, and in that respect, to the philosophy of science … [it] renders a number of complex and difficult topics very accessible.” — Rich Hughen, Teaching Philosophy
“Scientific Thinking is admirably clear and linear. It takes the student from the elementary position of undirected observation through problems in sampling to issues in explanation, causation and classification. The book’s informal language helps to make it easy to understand such things as the need for and practical difficulties involved with random sampling. … Scientific and historical examples are presented in an especially illuminating way.” — Carl Matheson, University of Manitoba
Other titles by
The Meaning of Language, second edition
Writing Wrongs
Common Errors in English
For the Sake of Argument
How to Do Philosophy
Epistemology
There Are Two Errors in the the Title of This Book, Revised and Expanded (Again)
A Sourcebook of Philosophical Puzzles, Problems, and Paradoxes
First Philosophy: God, Mind, and Freedom, second edition
Fundamental Problems and Readings in Philosophy
First Philosophy I: Values and Society - Second Edition
Fundamental Problems and Readings in Philosophy
First Philosophy - Second Edition
Fundamental Problems and Readings in Philosophy
Philosophical Conversations
