The Foundations of Science: Science and Hypothesis, The Value of Science, Science and Method

by Henri Poincaré, George Bruce Halsted (Translator)

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Science, Philosophy, Physics, Mathematics, Nonfiction

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Jules Henri Poincaré was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and a philosopher of science. He is often described as a polymath, and in mathematics as The Last Universalist, since he excelled in all fields of the discipline as it existed during his lifetime.

Reviews

[Tara Brabazon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A knowledge-changing book. A life-changing book. Knowledge would not exist in its current form without Henri Poincare.

While absolutely outside of my disciplines, this book was superb. It is brilliantly written, well argued and contextually aware.

As he stated, “I have shown the mind of the mathematician at work." But what we have also seen is the value of theory - with or without the capital T - and how hypotheses are constructed with rigour and clarity.

Published by the Science Press in 1913, this book is fresh and fascinating. For me, I now think differently about 'the general case' and the particulars that challenge it.

[Rudradeep Mukherjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The five stars are for treating philosophy of science. I am currently not interested in philosophy or psychology of mathematics - so I skimmed through those sections.

Poincare is a very dense writer(because of his genius?). But still, he makes a remarkable presentation of science upto his days. Even in his days, mechanics(physics) was in crisis - no one knew how radium produced energy. He repeats many ideas and eventually tries to make sense of what radium means for future of science.

After this book was published, entire subatomic world would open. Relativity and quantum mechanics would take their place in the fabric of scientific thought. Therefore, this book acts as a great standard for the foundations of science of pre-relativity days. Nonetheless, it still gives a great view of what science is and how scientists approach their work.

[Frederick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and a very smooth read. He hits upon so many truths about science that are often forgotten. One quote is an example of the clarity with which this book is written. "It is often said experiments must be made without a preconceived idea. That is impossible. Not only would it make all experiment barren, but that would be attempted which could not be done. Every one carries in his mind his own conception of the world, of which he can not so easily rid himself. We must, for instance, use language; and our language is made up only of preconceived ideas and can not be otherwise. Only these are unconscious preconceived ideas, a thousand times more dangerous than the others." This author, one of the 19th century's most brilliant men, is very important to read if you are interested in the philosophy of science.

[Linda]

nach: James Webb Young: A Technique for Producing Ideas.
eigentlich: Science and Method. transl. by F. Maitland