Is Water H2O? Evidence, Realism and Pluralism /

• Main Author: Chang, Hasok (Author)
• Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
• Format: Electronic eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands : Imprint: Springer, 2012.
• Series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, 293
• Subjects: History.; Chemistry.; Philosophy and science.; Science education.; Physics.; History of Science.; Philosophy of Science.; Chemistry/Food Science, general.; History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics.; Science Education.

This book exhibits deep philosophical quandaries and intricacies of the historical development of science lying behind a simple and fundamental item of common sense in modern science, namely the composition of water as H2O. Three main phases of development are critically re-examined, covering the hi...

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• Water and the Chemical Revolution.- Piles of Confusion: the Mixed Blessing of Electrolysis.- HO or H2O?.-Evidence in Action (or, The Contextuality of Evidence)
• Pluralism in Practice.- Realism in a Free Society
• Epilogue: Complementary Science Continued.