About the Book
In his latest book, Eric Scerri presents a completely original account of the nature of scientific progress. It consists of a holistic and unified approach in which science is seen as a living and evolving single organism. Instead of scientific revolutions featuring exceptionally gifted individuals, Scerri argues that the 'little people' contribute as much as the 'heroes' of science. To do this he examines seven case studies of virtually unknown chemists and physicists in the early 20th century quest to discover the structure of the atom. They include the amateur scientist Anton van den Broek who pioneered the notion of atomic number as well as Edmund Stoner a then physics graduate student who provided the seed for Pauli's Exclusion Principle. Another case is the physicist John Nicholson who is virtually unknown and yet was the first to propose the notion of quantization of angular momentum that was soon put to good use by Niels Bohr.
Instead of focusing on the logic and rationality of science, Scerri elevates the role of trial and error and multiple discovery and moves beyond the notion of scientific developments being right or wrong. While criticizing Thomas Kuhn's notion of scientific revolutions he agrees with Kuhn that science is not drawn towards an external truth but is rather driven from within. The book will enliven the long-standing debate on the nature of science, which has increasingly shied away from the big question of "what is science?"
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Introduction. Intermediate historical figures & how can 'wrong theories' lead to scientific progress?
Chapter 2 The intriguing case of John Nicholson
Chapter 3 Van den Broek and atomic number
Chapter 4 Abegg, an early pioneer of chemical bonding
Chapter 5 Bury, and his detailed electronic structures
Chapter 6 Main Smith the chemist who anticipated Stoner
Chapter 7 Edmund Stoner, pioneer of the 3rd quantum number
Chapter 8 Janet, inventor of the left-step periodic table
Chapter 9 Drawing Things Together
Notes
Index
About the Author :
Eric Scerri is a leading philosopher of science specializing in the history and philosophy of chemistry and especially the periodic table. He has been teaching chemistry as well as history and philosophy of science and conducting research at UCLA for the past sixteen years. Scerri is the author of the bestselling The Periodic Table: Its Story and Its Significance (2007), The Periodic Table: A Very Short Introduction (2011) and
A Tale of Seven Elements (2013).
Review :
"This book contains a selection of interesting background-stories for one of the main themes of introductory chemistry courses, and also provides some first-hand testimony about how analytically-trained philosophers can belatedly discover aspects of reality inconsistent with their own earlier presuppositions without taking notice of the earlier work of others on those aspects." -- Joseph E. Earley, Science & Education Book Reviews
"This book contains a selection of interesting background-stories for one of the main themes of introductory chemistry courses, and also provides some first-hand testimony about how analytically-trained philosophers can belatedly discover aspects of reality inconsistent with their own earlier presuppositions without taking notice of the earlier work of others on those aspects ." -- Joseph E. Earley, Science & Education
"Challenging the popular belief that major figures dominate the history of science, Dr. Eric Scerri celebrates seven relatively obscure individuals, whose contributions enabled the discoveries of the better-known giants of modern physics [...] This scholarly book will appealmostly to those interested in the history and philosophy of science, and in the development of the ideas that underpin modern chemistry and physics.Mineralogists also do well to study the
roots of these sciences which also form the basis of our field." -- Dr. Vivien Gornitz, Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club
"A Tale of Seven Scientists and a New Philosophy of Science is a work that could be of great interest to a broad spectrum of audiences. From historians or philosophers of science to teachers, researchers or other interested persons...it finds its main value in the vindication of the need to realize a "new" philosophy and general history of science. It does not distort or "overintellicate" the processes of scientific discovery, as well as attending to
the organic, evolutionary and community aspects that underpin the constructive work of one of the best knowledge that human beings can use when understanding and configuring the universe in which they live. --
Sergio Urena, artefaCToS
"This book contains a selection of interesting background-stories for one of the main themes of introductory chemistry courses, and also provides some first-hand testimony about how analytically-trained philosophers can belatedly discover aspects of reality inconsistent with their own earlier presuppositions without taking notice of the earlier work of others on those aspects." -- Science & Education
"The historical vignettes are carefully and accessibly constructed, providing enough technical detail for those with scientific training and without intimidating lay readers... Highly recommended." -- CHOICE
"This short, readable book consolidates Eric Scerri's reputation as both historian and philosopher of science. It celebrates the contributions of seven now-marginalised figures to our understanding of the electronic structure of atoms and chemical periodicity, made in the early years of the past century." Times Higher Education
"A tale of seven scientists is a thoughtful contribution to general philosophy of science. It is engaging and insightful both for its focus on an evolutionary account of science, and because of its methodology." -- Foundations of Chemistry
"Scerri argues the point well for the evolutionary growth of science rather than the revolutionary changes proposed by Kuhn as true scientific discovery comes through learning from mistakes and making minor but significant improvements." -- Chemistry World Magazine
"This book brings our attention to an aspect of science that is often obscured by human desire to pay attention only to the "stars," and it is very much worth reading." -- American Chemical Society Chemical Information Bulletin
"I found Seven Scientists to be an absolutely fascinating account of the work of seven men. Their work and stories certainly help to illustrate Scerriâs larger point, but also stand equally as engaging tales of chemistry on their own. Not only that, the philosophical point Scerri makes is one that as educators, we would all do well to heed." -- Chemistry Solutions
"Scerri has written a stimulating study of the evolutionary development of science akin to a growing organism. The most significant challenge to the received view is the claim that scientific progress does not consist in theories being right or wrong but in their adaptation to their environments. This book continues the debate on the nature of scientific change in the great tradition of Popper, Kuhn and Lakatos." --Jouni-Matti Kuukkanen, Philosopher,
University of Oulu, Finland
"As a celebration of the forgotten "little people" who helped to establish the fundamental rules of atomic structure and chemical bonding, Scerri offers an important corrective to the common heroic narrative in which science is shaped only by intellectual giants. But it goes further, convincingly arguing that science is itself far from the systematic, logical engine it is often made out to be. It is, rather, an organic, gradual accumulation of knowledge by
trial-and-error, in which mistakes and inconsistencies aren't just inevitable but necessary and fruitful. It's messy - but it works!" --Philip Ball, science writer for Nature, Chemistry World, The
Guardian, author of Shapes, Nature's Patterns, a Tapestry in three Parts
"Eric Scerri's A Tale of Seven Scientists is wonderfully written and enjoyably provocative. Above all, it is a book by a man who truly loves science and wants to share his excitement and awe with others. It is informed about the science, and although Scerri disagrees with just about all of the philosophers he discusses, he does so for good reasons and with great respect for those with whom he differs. In turn, his book invites you to argue, perhaps to
disagree, but above all to learn and to grow - in short, to do exactly what Scerri finds to be the key to scientific advance." --Michael Ruse, Professor of Philosophy, Florida State University
"Eric Scerri's evolutionary account of the growth of science is supported by a narrative of seven relatively obscure chemists and physicists who played a crucial role in developments in chemistry. Scerri aims to show that the so-called "fantastic breakthroughs" in science are in fact far less dramatic when juxtaposed with the important contributions of the many scientists written out of the standard histories of a discipline. Drawing on his vast knowledge of
the history of chemistry, Scerri's book is a welcome addition to the growing body of literature in philosophy of science that aims to develop a general account of how scientific knowledge grows." --K.
Brad Wray, Professor of Philosophy, State University of New York, Oswego
"Many parts of the book remain thought-provoking, and will likely be of great interest â If this book prompts the reader to dig back into old journals and read some fascinating forgotten pioneers of science, it will have served an admirable purpose." -- American Journal of Physics
