PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL SCIENCE, by Carl G. Hempel is a classic exposition of the scientific method and should be considered required reading for all scientists as well as informed lay persons. Do not let the title of this book mislead you, among its most ardent supporters are the practitioners of the social sciences in addition to the expected audience of "hard" scientists (Though PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE is another volume in this "Foundations of Philosophy" series, it is nowhere near the classic that this volume is).

Far from just a theoretical work, Hempel skillfully injects easily understandable case studies and examples into his writing. Proceeding from the basic logical construction of the scientific method to more complex ideas challenging some of the classically held views, Hempel is always accessible, always clearly understandable.

This is a surprisingly enjoyable book to read and short enough that it shouldn't intimidate anyone. There are far too few people today who understand scientific explanation and I would recommend this indispensable book for anyone's library.

Jeremy W. Forstadt

In this little book Carl Hempel lays out the basics of a philosophy of science, or in other words what a scientific theory must be in order to be science. This is an oversimplification in that not only does Hempel follow the well trodden track of such people as Karl Popper, but he goes much further in the way he looks at various `theories' proposed through the ages. He is not afraid to look at seemingly ludicrous theories such as vitalism but analyses them to locate what is and is not science within them. He never pre-judges anything but is willing ot give it a look no matter how strange or ridiculous. Hempel is a philosopher of science to be admired in his open views. Throughout the text he surprises the reader as he elucidates aspects of the philosophy of science which don't usually occur to a practising scientist or to many other philosophers who take much for granted.

Worth every page.

Hempel's little book _Philosophy of Natural Science_ is a concise, lucid introduction to a complex subject. In just over a hundred pages, he discusses a wide range of problems in the philosophy of science, with an emphasis on epistemological issues. Like other books in the "Foundations of Philosophy" series (and like other good philosophy texts in general), the book not only discusses the positions of other philosophers, it also makes a case for the author's own point of view. Chapter 5, where he lays out his deductive-nomological model of scientific explanation, is worth the cover price alone. Hempel is a clear writer, and he illustrates his points with many examples from the history of science. These are both illuminating and interesting in their own right. This book is a great place to start to learn about the history and philosophy of science.

Is anyone here has the book of e-version?
I need it very much,would any one sent it to me,please!

This is a somewhat personal note, as well as a commentary on this book: I am theoretical physicist who really had his eyes opened by this brief but thorough text. Hemple enumerates and discusses the classic measures of what makes an acceptable scientific theory. Simplicity, explanatory power, and so forth. As I read each chapter, it became clear to me that there were deep logical problems with each way of judging theories, and thus with the whole enterprise. Hence not only is this a good review of the nature and process of science, but it serves as introduction to more recent philosophies, in which the fundamental logical foundation of science is re-examined. That is, it showed me why there is logically room for other views of the nature of science, since there were such deep difficulties with the classic view (by the way, this classic view is still held, unexamined, by most engineers and many scientists).