To Save the Phenomena

Pierre Duhem

Pierre Duhem, 1861-1916, was one of the great French mathematical physicists of his time. He was also one of the founders of philosophy of science as an aspect of intellectual history.

Duhem began his study of historical scientific texts -- from the pre-Socratics on -- to fortify the fundamental principle of his methodology, that physical theory should not, in an attempt to "save the phenomena," contain speculations about the layer of matter underlying the phenomena.

What are the relations between physical theory and metaphysics, or, as the question was formulated, what are the relations between astronomy and physics? Duhem's compact history reviews the answers given to this question by Greek thought, Arabic science, medieval Christian scholasticism, and, finally, the astronomers of the Renaissance. In sober and scholarly style, with frequent rather extensive quotations from original sources, Duhem outlines the principal astronomical systems, from the Ptolemaic to the Copernican, showing how these were accepted, rejected, or modified according to prevalent conceptions about the nature of physical theory.

As Professor Jaki notes in his Introductory Essay, "Duhem firmly believed that the human mind has the ability to learn something about the true, inner nature of the physical world, though not by relying exclusively on the quantitative method. What Duhem clearly perceived... was that the quantitative, formalistic approach did not suffice in physical science, let alone in other areas of human inquiry."

Ultimately Duhem's contribution is humanistic as well as scientific. This new translation of a work first published in Paris in 1908 will be welcomed by students of philosophy and the history and philosophy of science.