Notes on the History and Philosophy of Science: 2. Barker on Simplicity in Historical Geology

Authors

Peter W. Bretsky Jr., Southern Methodist University

Abstract

In the literature of the philosophy of science the principle of simplicity is usually analyzed by reference to examples taken from mathematics and the abstract physical sciences. Thus Mario Bunge, in the Panel Discussion of Simplicity of Scientific Theories, which was conducted at the 1960 meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in New York City, chose four of his six basic examples from physics and astrophysics. These were the Copernican and Ptolemaic theories, the gravitational theory of Einstein and others, the beta-decay theory, and Newton's and Hamilton's formulation of dynamics. At this same symposium, however, Stephen Barker broke with tradition and selected a geological example upon which to base his analysis of simplicity.

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Recommended Citation

Bretsky, Peter W. Jr. (1962) "Notes on the History and Philosophy of Science: 2. Barker on Simplicity in Historical Geology," Journal of the Graduate Research Center: Vol. 30: No. 1, Article 10.
Available at: https://scholar.smu.edu/journal_grc/vol30/iss1/10