Models and Inferences in Science

The book answers long-standing questions on scientific modeling and inference across multiple perspectives and disciplines, including logic, mathematics, physics and medicine. The different chapters cover a variety of issues, such as the role models play in scientific practice; the way science shapes our concept of models; ways of modeling the pursuit of scientific knowledge; the relationship between our concept of models and our concept of science. The book also discusses models and scientific explanations; models in the semantic view of theories; the applicability of mathematical models to the real world and their effectiveness; the links between models and inferences; and models as a means for acquiring new knowledge. It analyzes different examples of models in physics, biology, mathematics and engineering. Written for researchers and graduate students, it provides a cross-disciplinary reference guide to the notion and the use of models and inferences in science.

Offers a coherent, multidisciplinary overview of the use and construction of models and inferences in various scientific fields Compares the concepts of models and science, and the concepts of models and inferences Provides readers with the necessary tools to deal with the emergence of new models and research methods Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Inhalt
Modelling and Inferring in Science.- On 'The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences'.- Fast and Frugal Heuristics at Research Frontiers.- Scientific Realism, the Semantic View and Evolutionary Biology.- Models of the Skies.- Models of Science and Models in Science.- Mechanistic Models and Modeling Disorders.- Chaos and Stochastic Models in Physics.- Ways of Advancing Knowledge. A Lesson from Knot Theory and Topology.- Models, Idealisations, and Realist Commitments.- Modelling Non-Empirical Confirmation.- Mathematics as an Empirical Phenomenon, Subject to Modeling.- Scientific Models Are Distributed and Never Abstract. A Naturalistic Perspective.- The Use of Models in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering.