Critical Appraisal of Physical Science as a Human Enterprise

• Quantitative Imperative Versus the Imperative of Presuppositions.- Understanding Scientific Progress: From Duhem to Lakatos.- Kinetic Theory: Maxwell's Presuppositions.- Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements: From Mendeleev to Moseley.- Foundations of Modern Atomic Theory: Thomson, Rutherford, and Bohr.- Determination of the Elementary Electrical Charge: Millikan and Ehrenhaft.- Paradox of the Photoelectric Effect: Einstein and Millikan.- Bending of Light in the 1919 Eclipse Experiments: Einstein and Eddington.- Lewis's Covalent Bond: From Transfer of Electrons to Sharing of Electrons.- Quantum Mechanics: From Bohr to Bohm.- Wave–Particle Duality: De Broglie, Einstein, and Schrödinger.- Searching for Quarks: Perl's Philosophy of Speculative Experiments.- Conclusion: Inductive Method as a Chimera.

From the reviews: "The book is organized in 14 chapters and includes references, an author index and a subject index. ... The book does an excellent job in brining to the foreground the complexity that surrounds the development of ideas in science. ... Overall, the book is a valuable contribution in illustrating a face of science that is often ignored. ... The book will be useful for academics, researchers and students in history, philosophy and education of science." (Sibel Erduran, Science & Education, June, 2010) "This 14-chapter book devotes 10 chapters to historical episodes of scientific discovery and theory development in the physical sciences. ... for students of history and philosophy of science (HPS) and science education, this volume reports on important physical science episodes in the application of HPS to science education. ... Niaz's monograph is a good source for gaining insights into how history of science influenced philosophy of science." (Richard A. Duschl, Studies in Science Education, Vol. 47 (1), March, 2011)