CONTENTS
Preface 7
Introduction 9
I. Formal Aspects of Method
A. Exploring the Characteristics of a Naturally Occurring Process
1. Aristotle: TheEmbryology ofthe Chick 31
2. William Beaumont: The Process of Digestion as Chemistry 39
B. Deciding between Rival Hypotheses
3. Robert Norman: The Discovery of Dip and the Field Concept 49
4. Stephen Hales: The Circulation of Sap in Plants 57
5. Konrad Lorenz: The Conditions of Imprinting 65
C. Finding the Form of a Law Inductively
6. Galileo: The Law of Descent 76
7. Robert Boyle: The Measurement of the Spring of the Air 83
D. The Use of Models to Simulate otherwise Unresearchable Processes
8. The odoric of Freibourg: The Causes of the Rainbow 93
E. Exploiting an Accident
9. Louis Pasteur: The Preparation of Artificial Vaccines 102
10. Ernest Rutherford: The Artificial Transmutation of the Elements 111
F. Null Results
11. A. A. Michelson and E. W. Morley: The Impossibility of
Detecting the Motion of the Earth 124
II. Developing the Content of a Theory
A. Finding the Hidden Mechanism of a Known Effect
12. F. Jacob and E. Wollman: The Direct Transfer of Genetic Material 137
13. J. J. Gibson: The Mechanism of Perception 147
B. Existence Proofs
14. A. L. Lavoisier: The Proof of the Oxygen Hypothesis 155
15. Humphry Davy: The Electrolytic Isolation of' New Elements 163
16. J. J. Thomson: The Discovery of the Electron 171
C. The Decomposition of an Apparently Simple Phenomenon
17. Isaac Newton: The Nature of Colours 182
D. The Demonstration of Underlying Unity within Apparent Variety
18. Michael Faraday: The Identity of All Forms of Electricity 191
III. Technique
A. Accuracy and Care in Manipulation
19. J. J.Berzelius: The Perfection of Chemical Measurement 201
B. The Power and Versatility of Apparatus
20. Otto Stern: The Wave Aspect of Matter and the Third Quantum Number 212
General Bibliography 221
Index 223