The Cognitive Science of Science

Paul Thagard was among the first philosophers of science to apply the resources of the cognitive sciences to the study of science itself. This collection of his recent articles provides a lucid and timely introduction not only to his own approach to the subject, but also to the cognitive study of science as a whole.

Ronald N. Giere, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Minnesota

This collection brings together Paul Thagard's latest interdisciplinary insights into the workings of science, drawing on his extensive work in historical, philosophical, cognitive, and computational approaches. The broad range of topics here provides an agenda and new directions for future work in the cognitive science of science, especially on the oft-neglected topic of scientific discovery. Anyone taking up the topic will want to see the far reach of Thagard's account of conceptual combination.

Lindley Darden, University of Maryland, College Park

The cognitive science of science is a rapidly expanding area of science studies and Paul Thagard is one of its pioneers. A collection and expansion of recent ground-breaking work on scientific creativity and discovery conducted by Thagard and his collaborators is thus timely and important. The analyses presented lie at the interface of AI, neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy and provide novel ways of thinking about discovery and creativity for cognitive scientists and science studies researchers, as well as for those interested in creativity more generally.

Nancy Nersessian, Regents' Professor of Cognitive Science, School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology

The problem of scientific cognition is very complex, and cognitive science of science is in its early infancy. This book make a significant contribution to clarifying the issues involved in studying scientific cognition, and outlining proof-of-concept models of possible neural processes involved in discovery, explanation, and conceptual change...I look forward to Cognitive Science of Science 2.0.

Metascience