REASONING IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

This series of books is meant to present the fundamentals of reasoning well in a clear manner accessible to both scholars and students. The body of each essay gives the main development of the subject, while the footnotes and appendices place the research within a larger scholarly context. The topic of this volume is the nature and evaluation of reasoning in science and mathematics. Science and mathematics can both be understood as proceeding by a method of abstraction from experience. Mathematics is distinguished from other sciences only in its greater abstraction and its demand for necessity in its inferences. That methodology of abstraction is the main focus here. The study of these subjects is not just of academic interest but can lead to better research in science and mathematics. First comes clear thinking, then comes clear research and clear writing. The essays: • Background • Models and Theories • Experiments • Mathematics as the Art of Abstraction.