Scientific Methodology in Nineteenth Century Britain
1st Edition
Published on 21. October 2025
Book
1038 pages
978-1-032-20488-8 (ISBN)
Description
This four-volume collection of primary sources examines scientific methodology in Britain during the long nineteenth century. As the physical, biological, human, and social sciences were radically reshaped across the 1800's, so the prevailing understanding of scientific methodology changed with them, making this period one of the most significant in the early development of the philosophy of science in the English-speaking world. This development was driven not only by the reflections of numerous men of science, scattered across their works, but also by the publication of some of the first major treatises in the philosophy of science. These volumes form a valuable complement instruction and learning in nineteenth-century philosophy and the history of science. An understanding of the philosophical and methodological innovations that grounded these epoch-making developments in the sciences is crucial for helping us understand how several generations of scientists interpreted and hoped to justify their own work. These same questions would go on to form a significant part of the foundation for reflection on such issues across the twentieth century and today.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced
Illustrations
10 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder
10 Halftones, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
2080 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-20488-8 (9781032204888)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Dr. Charles H. Pence is Assistant Professor and Director of the Center for the Philosophy of Science and Society (CEFISES) at the Universite catholique de Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Content
Volume 1: Building Philosophical Systems
General Introduction
Volume 1 Introduction
Part 1: Setting the Stage
1. Isaac Newton, "Scholium", from Principia Mathematica, tr. Andrew Motte (1803 [1726, 1729 tr.]), pp. 1:6-1:14
2.Isaac Newton, "Queries", from Opticks (1730)
3. Emilie Du Chatelet, "Of Hypothesis", from Foundations of Physics, tr. Isabelle Bour and Judith P. Zinsser (1740, tr. 2009), pp. 147-155
4. Immanuel Kant, "Preface" from Prolegomena and Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science, tr. Ernest Belfort Bax (1883 [1786]), pp. 137-149
5. Thomas Reid, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man (1786), pp. 1:33-1:52
6. Mary Shepherd, Essay Upon the Relation of Cause and Effect (1824), pp. 40-63
Part 2: Sir John F. W. Herschel's Preliminary Discourse
7. John F. W. Herschel, Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, 2nd ed. (1851), Chapter I, pp. 13-17; Chapter V, pp. 135-138; Chapter VI, pp. 144-175; Chapter VII, pp. 190-200
8. William Whewell, "[Review of] A Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy", The Quarterly Review, Vol. 45, No. 90 (1831), pp. 374-391, 398-402
Part 3: William Whewell's History and Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences
9. William Whewell, "Of the Establishment of the Principles of Dynamics", and "Of Certain Characteristics of Scientific Induction", from The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, Founded Upon Their History, 2 vols., 2nd ed. (1847), pp. 1:215-1:227, 2:46-2:74
Part 4: John Stuart Mill's System of Logic
10. John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic (1843), "Of Observation and Experiment" and "Of the Four Methods of Experimental Enquiry", pp. 1:437-1:479 and from "Of Demonstration, and Necessary Truths" and "The Same Subject Continued", pp. 1:296-300, 1:311-323, 1:328-330
Part 5: Positivism
11. Auguste Comte, The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte, tr. Harriet Martineau (1853 [1830]), pp. 25-38
12. Ernst Mach, "Introductory Remarks: Antimetaphysical", from The Analysis of Sensations, 1st ed., tr. C. M. Williams (1897), pp. 1-26
13. Karl Pearson, The Grammar of Science, 1st ed., (1892), pp. 92-104, 116-121
Bibliography
Index
Volume 2: Deep Time: Geology and Evolution
General Introduction
Volume 2 Introduction
Part 1: The Continental Traditions
1. Georges Cuvier, "View of the Relations Which Exist Amongst the Variations of the Several Organs", from Lectures on Comparative Anatomy (1802 [1800]), pp. 46-61
2. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Zoological Philosophy? tr. Hugh Elliott (1809, tr. 1914), pp. 19-21, 35-39, 56-61, 112-114, 126-127
3. Richard Owen, "Report on the Archetype and Homologies of the Vertebrate Skeleton", Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Vol. 16 (1846), pp. 169-170, 173-176, 248-251, 339-340
Part 2: Uniformity and Catastrophe in Geology
4. John Playfair, Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth (1802), pp. 510-528
5. William Buckland, "Volcanic Rocks, Basalt and Trap" and "Primary Stratified Rocks", from Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology (1836), pp. 44-56
6. Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology, Vol. 1 (1830), pp. 75-91
7. Adam Sedgwick, "Address to the Geological Society, Delivered on the Evening of the 18th of February 1831, by the Rev. Professor Sedgwick, M.A. F.R.S. &c. On Retiring from the President's Chair", The Philosophical Magazine, Vol. 9, pp. 298-308, 312-317
Part 3: The History of Life
8. William Buckland, Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology (1836), pp. 538-552
9. Robert Chambers, "Hypothesis of the Development of the Vegetable and Animal Kingdom", Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation 4th ed., (1845), pp. 195-216
10. Adam Sedgwick, "[Review of] Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation", The Edinburgh Review, Vol. 82 (1845), pp. 1-10
11. Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species (excerpts), (1859), pp. 7-14, 34-43, 80-96, 111-130, 279-302, 329-336
12. Alfred Russel Wallace, Darwinism (1889), pp. 445-446, 461-478
Part 4: After Darwin: Responding to the Origin
13. Fleeming Jenkin, "[Review of] The Origin of Species", North British Review, Vol. 46 (June 1867), pp. 277-286, 317-318
14. Adam Sedgwick, "Objections to Mr. Darwin's Theory of the Origin of Species", The Spectator, Vol. 33 (1860), pp. 285-286
15. Antoinette Brown Blackwell, "Sex and Evolution", The Sexes Throughout Nature (1875), pp. 11-23
16. St. George Jackson Mivart, On the Genesis of Species, 2nd ed. (1871), pp. 290-302
Bibliography
Index
Volume 3: Quantifying Life: Statistical, Social, and Human Sciences
General Introduction
Volume 3 Introduction
Part 1: Statistical Methodology
1. Adolphe Quetelet, "On Man", A Treatise on Man and the Development of His Faculties (1835 [tr. 1842]), pp. 5-9
2. William Jevons, The Principles of Science (1877), 2nd ed., pp. vii-xii, 265-269, 551-553
Part 2: Statistics in Biology
3. Francis Galton, Natural Inheritance (1889), pp. 63-70, 192-198
4. Karl Pearson, The Grammar of Science, 2nd ed. (1900), pp. 372-375, 402-408
5. William Bateson, "Heredity, Differentiation, and Other Conceptions of Biology: A Consideration of Professor Karl Pearson's Paper 'On the Principle of Homotyposis'," Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 69 (1901), pp. 193-205
Part 3: The Social Sciences
6. Herbert Spencer, Principles of Sociology, Vol. I, 3rd ed. (1887 [1876]), pp. 3-23, 34-39
7. Agnes Sinclair Holbrook, "Map Notes and Comments", in Jane Addams and Residents of Hull House, Hull-House Maps and Papers (1895), pp. 3-14
8. W. E. B. Du Bois, "The Study of the Negro Problems", Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 11 (1898), pp. 1-23
9. Ida B. Wells-Barnett, A Red Record (1895), pp. 7-15
Part 4: Physiology and Perception
10. Hermann von Helmholtz, "The Facts in Perception", in Hermann von Helmholtz, Epistemological Writings, trans. Paul Hertz and Moritz Schlick (1878 [tr. 1921]), pp. 117-146
11. Ernst Mach, "On Physiological as Distinguished from Geometrical Space", The Monist, Vol. 11, No. 3 (1901), pp. 321-338
Part 5: Method in Psychology
12.Herbert Spencer, "Life and Mind as Correspondence" and "The Correspondence as Increasing in Generality", The Principles of Psychology, 2nd ed. (1873), pp. 291-294, 350-369
13. William James, Lecture 1, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), pp. 1-25
14. J. M. Cattell, "Mental Tests and Measurements", Mind, Vol. 15, No. 59 (1890), pp. 373-381
15. E. B. Titchener, Experimental Psychology: A Manual of Laboratory Practice (1901), Vol. 1, pp. xiii-xviii, Vol. 2, pp. xix-xl
Bibliography
Index
Volume 4: Forces, Fields, and Energy: Physical Sciences
General Introduction
Volume 4 Introduction
Part 1: Atoms, Molecules and Forces
1. John Dalton, "On the Constitution of Bodies" and "On Chemical Synthesis" (1808), from Foundations of the Atomic Theory (1893), pp. 27-34
2. John Dalton, "Remarks on the Essay of Dr. Berzelius on the Cause of Chemical Proportions", Annals of Philosophy, Vol. 3 (1814), pp. 174-180
3. Jacob Berzelius, "An Address to Those Chemists Who Wish to Examine the Laws of Chemical Proportions, and the Theory of Chemistry in General", Annals of Philosophy, Vol. 10 (1815), pp. 122-131
4. Michael Faraday, "Identity of Electricities Derived from Different Sources", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Vol. 123 (1833), pp. 23-30, 43-53
5. Michael Faraday, "A Speculation Touching Electric Conduction and the Nature of Matter", Philosophical Magazine, Vol. 24 (1844), pp. 136-144
6. Herman von Helmholtz, "On the Aim and Progress of Physical Science", in Popular Lectures on Scientific Subjects (1869 [tr. 1885]), pp. 369-375, 382-394
7. James Clerk Maxwell, "On Physical Lines of Force", Philosophical Magazine, Vol. 21, No. 139 (1861), pp. 161-165
8. James Clerk Maxwell, "Molecules", Nature, Vol. 8 (1873), pp. 437-441
Part 2: Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
9. Sadi Carnot, "Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat and on Engines Suitable for Developing this Power", The Second Law of Thermodynamics: Memoirs by Carnot, Clausius, and Thomson (1824 [tr. 1899]), pp. 3-21
10. James Joule, "On Matter, Living Force, and Heat", in The Scientific Papers of James Prescott Joule, (1847), pp. 265-276
11. Rudolf Clausius, "On the Moving Force of Heat", in The Mechanical Theory of Heat, with its Applications to the Steam-Engine and to the Physical Properties of Bodies (1850 [tr. 1867]), pp. 14-21, 43-45.
12. William Thomson, "Kinetic Theory of the Dissipation of Energy", Nature, Vol. 9 (1874), pp. 441-444
Part 3: Models and Reality
13. Heinrich Hertz, Principles of Mechanics (1894 [tr. 1899]), pp. 1-4, 24-41
14. Ludwig Boltzmann, "On the Necessity of Atomic Theories in Physics", The Monist, Vol. 12, No. 1 (1901), pp. 65-79
15. Ludwig Boltzmann, "Models", Encyclopaedia Britannica, 10th ed., Vol. 30 (1902), pp. 788-791
Part 4: Time and Space
16. Mary Somerville, Mechanism of the Heavens (1831), pp. v-xv, 4-6, 145-151
17. Ernst Mach, The Science of Mechanics (1883[tr. 1919]), pp. 222-245
18. Albert Einstein, "Maxwell's Influence on the Development of the Conception of Physical Reality", in James Clerk Maxwell: A Commemoration Volume, 1831-1931 (1931), pp. 66-73
Bibliography
Index
General Introduction
Volume 1 Introduction
Part 1: Setting the Stage
1. Isaac Newton, "Scholium", from Principia Mathematica, tr. Andrew Motte (1803 [1726, 1729 tr.]), pp. 1:6-1:14
2.Isaac Newton, "Queries", from Opticks (1730)
3. Emilie Du Chatelet, "Of Hypothesis", from Foundations of Physics, tr. Isabelle Bour and Judith P. Zinsser (1740, tr. 2009), pp. 147-155
4. Immanuel Kant, "Preface" from Prolegomena and Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science, tr. Ernest Belfort Bax (1883 [1786]), pp. 137-149
5. Thomas Reid, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man (1786), pp. 1:33-1:52
6. Mary Shepherd, Essay Upon the Relation of Cause and Effect (1824), pp. 40-63
Part 2: Sir John F. W. Herschel's Preliminary Discourse
7. John F. W. Herschel, Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, 2nd ed. (1851), Chapter I, pp. 13-17; Chapter V, pp. 135-138; Chapter VI, pp. 144-175; Chapter VII, pp. 190-200
8. William Whewell, "[Review of] A Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy", The Quarterly Review, Vol. 45, No. 90 (1831), pp. 374-391, 398-402
Part 3: William Whewell's History and Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences
9. William Whewell, "Of the Establishment of the Principles of Dynamics", and "Of Certain Characteristics of Scientific Induction", from The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, Founded Upon Their History, 2 vols., 2nd ed. (1847), pp. 1:215-1:227, 2:46-2:74
Part 4: John Stuart Mill's System of Logic
10. John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic (1843), "Of Observation and Experiment" and "Of the Four Methods of Experimental Enquiry", pp. 1:437-1:479 and from "Of Demonstration, and Necessary Truths" and "The Same Subject Continued", pp. 1:296-300, 1:311-323, 1:328-330
Part 5: Positivism
11. Auguste Comte, The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte, tr. Harriet Martineau (1853 [1830]), pp. 25-38
12. Ernst Mach, "Introductory Remarks: Antimetaphysical", from The Analysis of Sensations, 1st ed., tr. C. M. Williams (1897), pp. 1-26
13. Karl Pearson, The Grammar of Science, 1st ed., (1892), pp. 92-104, 116-121
Bibliography
Index
Volume 2: Deep Time: Geology and Evolution
General Introduction
Volume 2 Introduction
Part 1: The Continental Traditions
1. Georges Cuvier, "View of the Relations Which Exist Amongst the Variations of the Several Organs", from Lectures on Comparative Anatomy (1802 [1800]), pp. 46-61
2. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Zoological Philosophy? tr. Hugh Elliott (1809, tr. 1914), pp. 19-21, 35-39, 56-61, 112-114, 126-127
3. Richard Owen, "Report on the Archetype and Homologies of the Vertebrate Skeleton", Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Vol. 16 (1846), pp. 169-170, 173-176, 248-251, 339-340
Part 2: Uniformity and Catastrophe in Geology
4. John Playfair, Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth (1802), pp. 510-528
5. William Buckland, "Volcanic Rocks, Basalt and Trap" and "Primary Stratified Rocks", from Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology (1836), pp. 44-56
6. Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology, Vol. 1 (1830), pp. 75-91
7. Adam Sedgwick, "Address to the Geological Society, Delivered on the Evening of the 18th of February 1831, by the Rev. Professor Sedgwick, M.A. F.R.S. &c. On Retiring from the President's Chair", The Philosophical Magazine, Vol. 9, pp. 298-308, 312-317
Part 3: The History of Life
8. William Buckland, Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology (1836), pp. 538-552
9. Robert Chambers, "Hypothesis of the Development of the Vegetable and Animal Kingdom", Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation 4th ed., (1845), pp. 195-216
10. Adam Sedgwick, "[Review of] Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation", The Edinburgh Review, Vol. 82 (1845), pp. 1-10
11. Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species (excerpts), (1859), pp. 7-14, 34-43, 80-96, 111-130, 279-302, 329-336
12. Alfred Russel Wallace, Darwinism (1889), pp. 445-446, 461-478
Part 4: After Darwin: Responding to the Origin
13. Fleeming Jenkin, "[Review of] The Origin of Species", North British Review, Vol. 46 (June 1867), pp. 277-286, 317-318
14. Adam Sedgwick, "Objections to Mr. Darwin's Theory of the Origin of Species", The Spectator, Vol. 33 (1860), pp. 285-286
15. Antoinette Brown Blackwell, "Sex and Evolution", The Sexes Throughout Nature (1875), pp. 11-23
16. St. George Jackson Mivart, On the Genesis of Species, 2nd ed. (1871), pp. 290-302
Bibliography
Index
Volume 3: Quantifying Life: Statistical, Social, and Human Sciences
General Introduction
Volume 3 Introduction
Part 1: Statistical Methodology
1. Adolphe Quetelet, "On Man", A Treatise on Man and the Development of His Faculties (1835 [tr. 1842]), pp. 5-9
2. William Jevons, The Principles of Science (1877), 2nd ed., pp. vii-xii, 265-269, 551-553
Part 2: Statistics in Biology
3. Francis Galton, Natural Inheritance (1889), pp. 63-70, 192-198
4. Karl Pearson, The Grammar of Science, 2nd ed. (1900), pp. 372-375, 402-408
5. William Bateson, "Heredity, Differentiation, and Other Conceptions of Biology: A Consideration of Professor Karl Pearson's Paper 'On the Principle of Homotyposis'," Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 69 (1901), pp. 193-205
Part 3: The Social Sciences
6. Herbert Spencer, Principles of Sociology, Vol. I, 3rd ed. (1887 [1876]), pp. 3-23, 34-39
7. Agnes Sinclair Holbrook, "Map Notes and Comments", in Jane Addams and Residents of Hull House, Hull-House Maps and Papers (1895), pp. 3-14
8. W. E. B. Du Bois, "The Study of the Negro Problems", Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 11 (1898), pp. 1-23
9. Ida B. Wells-Barnett, A Red Record (1895), pp. 7-15
Part 4: Physiology and Perception
10. Hermann von Helmholtz, "The Facts in Perception", in Hermann von Helmholtz, Epistemological Writings, trans. Paul Hertz and Moritz Schlick (1878 [tr. 1921]), pp. 117-146
11. Ernst Mach, "On Physiological as Distinguished from Geometrical Space", The Monist, Vol. 11, No. 3 (1901), pp. 321-338
Part 5: Method in Psychology
12.Herbert Spencer, "Life and Mind as Correspondence" and "The Correspondence as Increasing in Generality", The Principles of Psychology, 2nd ed. (1873), pp. 291-294, 350-369
13. William James, Lecture 1, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), pp. 1-25
14. J. M. Cattell, "Mental Tests and Measurements", Mind, Vol. 15, No. 59 (1890), pp. 373-381
15. E. B. Titchener, Experimental Psychology: A Manual of Laboratory Practice (1901), Vol. 1, pp. xiii-xviii, Vol. 2, pp. xix-xl
Bibliography
Index
Volume 4: Forces, Fields, and Energy: Physical Sciences
General Introduction
Volume 4 Introduction
Part 1: Atoms, Molecules and Forces
1. John Dalton, "On the Constitution of Bodies" and "On Chemical Synthesis" (1808), from Foundations of the Atomic Theory (1893), pp. 27-34
2. John Dalton, "Remarks on the Essay of Dr. Berzelius on the Cause of Chemical Proportions", Annals of Philosophy, Vol. 3 (1814), pp. 174-180
3. Jacob Berzelius, "An Address to Those Chemists Who Wish to Examine the Laws of Chemical Proportions, and the Theory of Chemistry in General", Annals of Philosophy, Vol. 10 (1815), pp. 122-131
4. Michael Faraday, "Identity of Electricities Derived from Different Sources", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Vol. 123 (1833), pp. 23-30, 43-53
5. Michael Faraday, "A Speculation Touching Electric Conduction and the Nature of Matter", Philosophical Magazine, Vol. 24 (1844), pp. 136-144
6. Herman von Helmholtz, "On the Aim and Progress of Physical Science", in Popular Lectures on Scientific Subjects (1869 [tr. 1885]), pp. 369-375, 382-394
7. James Clerk Maxwell, "On Physical Lines of Force", Philosophical Magazine, Vol. 21, No. 139 (1861), pp. 161-165
8. James Clerk Maxwell, "Molecules", Nature, Vol. 8 (1873), pp. 437-441
Part 2: Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
9. Sadi Carnot, "Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat and on Engines Suitable for Developing this Power", The Second Law of Thermodynamics: Memoirs by Carnot, Clausius, and Thomson (1824 [tr. 1899]), pp. 3-21
10. James Joule, "On Matter, Living Force, and Heat", in The Scientific Papers of James Prescott Joule, (1847), pp. 265-276
11. Rudolf Clausius, "On the Moving Force of Heat", in The Mechanical Theory of Heat, with its Applications to the Steam-Engine and to the Physical Properties of Bodies (1850 [tr. 1867]), pp. 14-21, 43-45.
12. William Thomson, "Kinetic Theory of the Dissipation of Energy", Nature, Vol. 9 (1874), pp. 441-444
Part 3: Models and Reality
13. Heinrich Hertz, Principles of Mechanics (1894 [tr. 1899]), pp. 1-4, 24-41
14. Ludwig Boltzmann, "On the Necessity of Atomic Theories in Physics", The Monist, Vol. 12, No. 1 (1901), pp. 65-79
15. Ludwig Boltzmann, "Models", Encyclopaedia Britannica, 10th ed., Vol. 30 (1902), pp. 788-791
Part 4: Time and Space
16. Mary Somerville, Mechanism of the Heavens (1831), pp. v-xv, 4-6, 145-151
17. Ernst Mach, The Science of Mechanics (1883[tr. 1919]), pp. 222-245
18. Albert Einstein, "Maxwell's Influence on the Development of the Conception of Physical Reality", in James Clerk Maxwell: A Commemoration Volume, 1831-1931 (1931), pp. 66-73
Bibliography
Index