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3 volumes. 8vo (24 cm), xl, 420, [3] pp.; xxii, 185 pp.; xx, 229 pp. Publisher's cloth and dust jackets (dust jackets slightly sunned and rubbed, edges somewhat stained, ownership entries on front endpapers). First editions. The long-delayed publication of Karl Popper's monumental Postscript to the Logic of Scientific Discovery, one of the major philosophical works of the twentieth century and the most extensive development of the ideas first advanced in Logik der Forschung (1934; The Logic of Scientific Discovery). Conceived principally between 1951 and 1956 as a series of appendices expanding and revising the earlier work, the manuscript rapidly outgrew its original purpose and developed into an independent treatise substantially exceeding its predecessor in both scope and length. Originally typeset in galley proof during 1956-57 under the title Postscript: After Twenty Years, the work was intended to appear as a single companion volume to The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Publication was unexpectedly interrupted when Popper underwent a series of operations for detached retinas in both eyes. Although proofreading resumed after his recovery and extensive revisions were incorporated, the text remained essentially complete by 1962, after which Popper devoted his attention to later works. For more than two decades the unpublished manuscript circulated privately among Popper's students, colleagues, and correspondents in typescript and galley form, acquiring an almost legendary status within the philosophy of science. Publication finally became possible through the editorial work of W. W. Bartley III, Popper's former student and collaborator, who had assisted with the manuscript in the early 1960s and undertook its preparation for the press in 1978. At Bartley's suggestion, the enormous work was divided into three independent but closely related volumes, each approved by Popper and issued separately. Realism and the Aim of Science develops Popper's mature philosophy of scientific realism, examining induction, falsifiability, corroboration, verisimilitude, and the growth of scientific knowledge. The Open Universe presents Popper's sustained critique of scientific and metaphysical determinism, introducing the influential distinction between "clocks and clouds" and defending an indeterministic conception of nature compatible with objective scientific inquiry. Quantum Theory and the Schism in Physics applies these ideas to the interpretation of quantum mechanics, rejecting instrumentalist and subjectivist readings in favour of Popper's realist and propensity interpretation of probability, and concluding with an extended "Metaphysical Epilogue" on the philosophical implications of modern physics. Together the three volumes constitute Popper's fullest exposition of his mature philosophy of science, integrating his views on scientific method, realism, probability, causation, indeterminism, and quantum theory into a single systematic framework. They remain indispensable for the study of twentieth-century philosophy of science and the development of critical rationalism.
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