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The Philosophy of Science  'Science' once just meant something like ‘knowledge', as opposed to ‘belief' or ‘opinion', and Philosophy meant the study of knowledge in general. But, over the centuries, as Philosophers have discovered reasonably definite bits of that knowledge, the bits have each wandered away to form their own subjects. That is how Philosophy, the 'Queen of Sciences', has given birth to astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics and all the natural sciences, it is why the greatest experts, no matter what their field, are still called Doctors of Philosophy, and it is why quite a lot of the Old Philosophies here on the Squashed pages, aren't usually called 'Philosophy' any more. The Philosophy of Science is now concerned with what science is, the method by which it reaches conclusions, and the implications of its assumptions. See:  WikipediaAmong the Squashed Philosophers, on the subject of the Philosophy of Science: Bacon - Advancement of Learning Descartes - Discourse on Method Ayer - Languge, Truth and Logic Popper - Scientific Discovery ... and there's some odd and interesting bits among The Ancient Greeks Specific scientific discoveries are now seen as separate subjects. Some which have been profoundly influential are: Copernicus - The Revolutions Galileo - Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems Newton - Principia Darwin - The Origin of Species Einstein's Relativity Smith - Wealth of Nations ... and here are two books which have appeared in previous collections as works of science, but which are now usually seen as just some bloke's opinions: Marx - The Communist Manifesto Freud - Psychoanalysis  ISBN 9781326806781     |