Modeling: Gateway to the Unknown

Edited by Daniel Rothbart of George Mason University in Virginia, this book is a collection of Rom Harre's work on modeling in science (particularly physics and psychology). In over 28 authored books and 240 articles and book chapters, Rom Harre of Georgetown University in Washington, DC is a towering figure in philosophy, linguistics, and social psychology. He has inspired a generation of scholars, both for the ways in which his research is carried out and his profound insights. For Harre, the stunning discoveries of research demand a kind of thinking that is found in the construction and control of models. Iconic modeling is pivotal for representing real-world structures, explaining phenomena, manipulating instruments, constructing theories, and acquiring data.This volume in the new Elsevier book series Studies in Multidisciplinarity includes major topics on the structure and function of models, the debates over scientific realism, explanation through analogical modeling, a metaphysics for physics, the rationale for experimentation, and modeling in social encounters.* A multidisciplinary work of sweeping scope about the nature of science * Revolutionary interpretation that challenges conventional wisdom about the character of scientific thinking* Profound insights about fundamental challenges to contemporary physics* Brilliant discoveries into the nature of social interaction and human identity* Presents a rational conception of methods for acquiring knowledge of remote regions of the world * Written by one of the great thinkers of our time.