The Grammar of Science

by Karl Pearson

Overview

A major statement of the language, method, and concepts of the physical sciences, this 1892 volume traces not only the history of experimental investigation, but also the efforts of philosophic minds to state and organize their findings intelligently. "The field of science is unlimited," notes the author; "its material is endless, every group of natural phenomena, every phase of social life, every stage of past or present development is material for science. The unity of all science consists alone in its method, not in its material. The man who classifies facts of any kind whatever, who sees their mutual relations and describes their consequences, is applying the scientific method and is a man of science." Author Karl Pearson, the founder of modern statistics, came to this field from his passionate early studies of philosophy and cultural history as well as ether physics and graphical geometry. The Grammar of Science, his most widely read book and a classic in the philosophy of science, evolved from his lectures as professor of geometry. Pearson, who possessed a remarkable ability to captivate both students and casual listeners, was among the most influential university teachers of his era. With this work, he introduced the concept of a general methodology underlying all science, and thus made one of the great contributions to modern thought.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781602069565
Publisher:	Cosimo Classics
Publication date:	11/01/2007
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.06(d)

Table of Contents

	Introduction	iii
	Prefaces	ix
Chapter I.	Introductory
1.	The Need of the Present	1
2.	Science and Citizenship	6
3.	The First Claim of Modern Science	8
4.	Essentials of Good Science	9
5.	The Scope of Science	12
6.	Science and Metaphysics	14
7.	The Ignorance of Science	19
8.	The Wide Domain of Science	24
9.	The Second Claim of Science	25
10.	The Third Claim of Science	29
11.	Science and the Imagination	30
12.	The Method of Science Illustrated	32
13.	Science and the Aesthetic Judgment	34
14.	The Fourth Claim of Science	36
Chapter II.	The Facts of Science
1.	The Reality of Things	39
2.	Sense-Impressions and Consciousness	42
3.	The Brain as a Central Telephone Exchange	44
4.	The Nature of Thought	46
5.	Other-Consciousness as an Eject	48
6.	Attitude of Science towards Ejects	51
7.	The Scientific Validity of a Conception	53
8.	The Scientific Validity of an Inference	55
9.	The Limits to Other-Consciousness	57
10.	The Canons of Legitimate Inference	59
11.	The External Universe	60
12.	Outside and Inside Myself	63
13.	Sensations as the Ultimate Source of the Materials of Knowledge	66
14.	Shadow and Reality	69
15.	Individuality	71
16.	The Futility of "Things-in-Themselves"	72
17.	The Term Knowledge is Meaningless if applied to Unthinkable Things	74
Chapter III.	The Scientific Law
1.	Resume and Foreword	77
2.	Of the Word Law and its Meanings	79
3.	Natural Law relative to Man	82
4.	Man as the Maker of Natural Law	85
5.	The Two Senses of the Words "Natural Law"	87
6.	Confusion between the Two Senses of Natural Law	88
7.	The Reason behind Nature	90
8.	True Relation of Civil and Natural Law	93
9.	Physical and Metaphysical Supersensuousness	95
10.	Progress in the Formulating of Natural Law	96
11.	The Universality of Scientific Law	100
12.	The Routine of Perceptions is possibly a Product of the Perceptive Faculty	101
13.	The Mind as a Sorting-Machine	106
14.	Science, Natural Theology, and Metaphysics	107
15.	Conclusions	109
Chapter IV.	Cause and Effect--Probability
1.	Mechanism	113
2.	Force as a Cause	116
3.	Will as a Cause	118
4.	Secondary Causes involve no Enforcement	120
5.	Is Will a First Cause?	122
6.	Will as a Secondary Cause	123
7.	First Causes have no Existence for Science	127
8.	Cause and Effect as the Routine of Experience	128
9.	Width of the Term Cause	131
10.	The Universe of Sense-Impressions as a Universe of Motions	132
11.	Necessity belongs to the World of Conceptions, not to that of Perceptions	134
12.	Routine in Perception is a necessary Condition of Knowledge	136
13.	Probable and Provable	139
14.	Probability as to Breaches in the Routine of Perceptions	142
15.	The Basis of Laplace's Theory lies in an Experience as to Ignorance	143
16.	Nature of Laplace's Investigation	147
17.	The Permanency of Routine for the Future	148
Chapter V.	Contingency and Correlation--the Insufficiency of Causation
1.	The Routine of Perceptions is Relative rather than Absolute	152
2.	The Ultimate Elements of the Inorganic as of the Organic Universe may be Individual and not Same	155
3.	The Category of Association, as replacing Causation	156
4.	Symbolic Measure of the Intensity of Association or Contingency	160
5.	The Universe as governed by Causation and as governed by Contingency	165
6.	Classification of A and B by Measurement. Mathematical Function	167
7.	On the Multiplicity of "Causes"	171
8.	The Universe as a Complex of Contingent, not Causally Linked Phenomena	173
9.	The Measure of Correlation and its Relation to Contingency	174
Chapter VI.	Space and Time
1.	Space as a Mode of Perception	179
2.	The Infinite Bigness of Space	184
3.	The Infinite Divisibility of Space	186
4.	The Space of Memory and Thought	189
5.	Conceptions and Perceptions	191
6.	Sameness and Continuity	194
7.	Conceptual Space. Geometrical Boundaries	197
8.	Surfaces as Boundaries	199
9.	Conceptual Discontinuity of Bodies. The Atom	201
10.	Conceptual Continuity. Ether	205
11.	On the General Nature of Scientific Conceptions	206
12.	Time as a Mode of Perception	208
13.	Conceptual Time and its Measurement	213
14.	Concluding Remarks on Space and Time	217
Chapter VII.	The Geometry of Motion
1.	Motion as the Mixed Mode of Perception	220
2.	Conceptual Analysis of a Case of Perceptual Motion. Point-Motion	222
3.	Rigid Bodies as Geometrical Ideals	225
4.	On Change of Aspect, or Rotation	227
5.	On Change of Form, or Strain	229
6.	Factors of Conceptual Motion	232
7.	Point-Motion. Relative Character of Position and Motion	233
8.	Position. The Map of the Path	236
9.	The Time-Chart	239
10.	Steepness and Slope	242
11.	Speed as a Slope. Velocity	244
12.	The Velocity Diagram or Hodograph. Acceleration	246
13.	Acceleration as a Spurt and a Shunt	249
14.	Curvature	251
15.	The Relation between Curvature and Normal Acceleration	255
16.	Fundamental Propositions in the Geometry of Motion	258
17.	The Relativity of Motion. Its Synthesis from Simple Components	260
Chapter VIII.	Matter
1.	"All things move"--but only in Conception	266
2.	The Three Problems	269
3.	How the Physicists define Matter	271
4.	Does Matter occupy Space?	275
5.	The "Common-sense" View of Matter as Impenetrable and Hard	279
6.	Individuality does not denote Sameness in Substratum	281
7.	Hardness not Characteristic of Matter	285
8.	Matter as non-Matter in Motion	286
9.	The Ether as "Perfect Fluid" and "Perfect Jelly"	289
10.	The Vortex-Ring Atom and the Ether-Squirt Atom	292
11.	A Material Loophole into the Supersensuous	294
12.	The Difficulties of a Perceptual Ether	297
13.	Why do Bodies move?	299
Chapter IX.	The Laws of Motion
1.	Corpuscles and their Structure	305
2.	The Limits to Mechanism	309
3.	The First Law of Motion	311
4.	The Second Law of Motion, or the Principle of Inertia	313
5.	The Third Law of Motion. Mutual Acceleration is determined by Relative Position	317
6.	Velocity as an Epitome of Past History. Mechanism and Materialism	322
7.	The Fourth Law of Motion	326
8.	The Scientific Conception of Mass	329
9.	The Fifth Law of Motion. The Definition of Force	330
10.	Equality of Masses tested by Weighing	333
11.	How far does the Mechanism of the Fourth and Fifth Laws of Motion extend?	337
12.	Density as the Basis of the Kinetic Scale	339
13.	The Influence of Aspect on the Corpuscular Dance	343
14.	The Hypothesis of Modified Action and the Synthesis of Motion	344
15.	Criticism of the Newtonian Laws of Motion	348
Chapter X.	Modern Physical Ideas
1.	The Present Crisis in Physical Science and its Sources	355
2.	The Origin of the Atomic View of Electricity	358
3.	On the Electro-magnetic Constitution of the Atom	361
4.	Electro-magnetic Mass	364
5.	A Mechanical Ether Irrational	367
6.	On Current Definitions of Electric Charge and Intensity at a Point	370
7.	The Possibility of a Logical Definition of the Fundamental Quantities of the Electron Theory	371
8.	On Fluid or Space Distribution of Electricity	374
9.	On Motion Relative to the Ether in Relation to Experience	377
10.	Theory of Relativity	379
11.	Electro-magnetic Inertia according to the Theory of Relativity	383
12.	The Present Value of Newtonian Dynamics	385
	Appendix
Note I	On the Principle of Inertia and "Absolute Rotation"	389
Note II	On Newton's Third Law of Motion	392
Note III	William of Occam's Razor	392
Note IV	A. R. Wallace on Matter	393
Note V	On the Reversibility of Natural Processes	394