"poincaré, Philosopher of Science"

Marcel Duchamp is often viewed as an "artist-engineer-scientist," a kind of rationalist who relied heavily on the ideas of the French mathematician and philosopher Henri Poincaré.

This is an outstanding collection of original essays. All of them concern the history and philosophy of mathematics and physics in the years from 1870 to 1930. More specifically, they are intellectual histories of the interactions between the three disciplines, philosophy, mathematics and physics, in that period. And as the essays bring out, what a period it was: of both ferment and synergy, heat and light! Most of the giants - especially Helmholtz, Hertz, Poincare, Hilbert, Einstein and Weyl - are here: engaging not just in physics and mathematics but also in philosophy, often together, or with figures like Schlick. The editors are to be congratulated on a major contribution to our understanding of one of the most complex but fertile periods in the history of all three disciplines.

Throughout my research in the history of science I have been struck by the interest of many key scientists in the origins of scientific concepts and the process of creative thinking, particularly its intui- tive dimension. These scientists saw apparently disparate subjects as being related because the depth of their research had led them to consider the process of thinking itself. This book explores the con- nection of creative scientific thinking with the origins of scientific concepts and the ways in which this connection may provide a better understanding of scientific progress. Thus my concern here is with individuals, with the detailed structure of scientific change, and not with its macrostructure.