The Philosophy and Practice of Science

This book is a novel synthesis of the philosophy and practice of science, covering its diverse theoretical, metaphysical, logical, philosophical, and practical elements. The process of science is generally taught in its empirical form: what science is, how it works, what it has achieved, and what it might achieve in the future. What is often absent is how to think deeply about science and how to apply its lessons in the pursuit of truth, in other words, knowing how to know. In this volume, David Teplow presents illustrative examples of science practice, history and philosophy of science, and sociological aspects of the scientific community, to address commonalities among these disciplines. In doing so, he challenges cherished beliefs and suggests to students, philosophers, and practicing scientists new, epistemically superior, ways of thinking about and doing science.

David Teplow, a Professor of Neurology (Emeritus) at University of California, Los Angeles, is an internationally recognized leader in efforts to understand and treat Alzheimer's disease. He has published more than 250 peer-reviewed articles, books, book chapters, and commentaries and served on numerous national and international scientific advisory boards. In addition to his basic science work, Dr. Teplow has had a life-long interest in general philosophy and the philosophy of science. He spent a year-long sabbatical at the University of Cambridge as a Fellow of Clare Hall and a visiting scholar in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, where much of this book was written. This experience stimulated Dr. Teplow to create new courses at UCLA in the ethics of science, social aspects of scientific paradigm change, and the roles played by ignorance and failure in scientific progress.