Is There a Philosophy of Science? (1973)

Abstract

Medawar’s Induction and Intuition in Scientific Thoughtis an extraordinary book. First of all, it is well printed in black ink with a plain, legible type on good white paper, with running heads and page numbers where they belong, decent margins, paragraphs properly indented, a centered and dignified title page, and a sober yet clearly stamped binding. Such bookmaking is nearly extinct. It deserves a laurel wreath.

A Scientist who writes on philosophy faces conflicts of conscience from which he will seldom extricate himself whole and unscathed; the open horizon and depth of philosophical thoughts are not easily reconciled with that objective clarity and determinacy for which he has been trained in the school of science.

H. Weyl, Philosophy of Mathematics and Natural Science

I felt that the philosophers moving in the realm of infinity without the precautions and experiences of the mathematicians were like ships in a dense fog in a sea full of dangerous rocks, yet blissfully unaware of the dangers.

M. Born, My Life