In this blog I intend mostly to deal with the history of science in the early modern period, that is roughly the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries (although I will allow myself to roam into other time periods as the mood takes me) and I shall be guided by my own personal blend of the philosophy of science that is made up of roughly equal parts of Lakatos, Paul Feyerabend, Stephen Toulmin, Christopher Hill, Erlanger Constructivism and my own weird take on the discipline that involves such concepts as 'patchwork pluralism' and the 'drunken hotel guest theory' of the progress of science, both of which are potential themes for future postings. My historiography is also guided by my own dictum, 'methodology becomes dogma; dogma blinds'.
22 May 2013
If you are attending this year’s history of science and all the rest monster bean feast in Manchester in July and are holding a lecture there for the first time in your life at a...
The Phlogiston Theory is not equivalent to the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis.
20 May 2013
In recent days the Internet science community has got its collective nickers in a mighty twist. The disciples of the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis (AAH) have dared to hold an international...
18 May 2013
Crunch, Crunch, Crunch, Crunch, Crunch,… That’s the sound of me banging my head against a concrete wall to relieve the pain I suffered on reading the latest pearl of wisdom that...