Hi Tim:
Thanx for the link to T.L. Brown's book. I read Chapter 9 in
its entirety, and found other examples of Rosenthink. However, I
checked the footnotes for all ten chapters, and none included a
reference to RR.
The part I read is well-written, although not entirely accurate. Still,
it's an interesting take on how we humanoids concoct what we come to
believe as "the truth". Most of what the author says seems right on
target.
Pete
Tim Gwinn wrote:
I imagine the book "Making Truth: Metaphor
in Science" by Theodore Brown might be of interest to anyone
interested in models and the Modelling Relation. I was struck by
the way in which Brown seemed to view metaphors in science as being as
pervasive and fundamental as it seems to me that Rosen saw them being.
From
chapter 2, a very Rosen-like paragraph:
"The central thesis of this book is that
metaphorical reasoning is at the very core of what scientists do when
they design experiments, make discoveries, formulate theories and
models, and describe their results to others—in short, when they do
science and communicate about it. Metaphor is a tool of great
conceptual power. It enables the scientist to interpret the natural
world in wonderful and productive ways. At the same time, the
metaphorical reasoning that lies at the heart of scientific thought and
imagination is constrained in ways that go toward defining the range
and character of science."
Most
of the book is actually available online for free (!) at:
The
homepage for the book is at:
I
very quickly browsed chapter 7 on metaphors in protein folding (note
the idea of "fitness" he mentions - this struck me as being probably a
strictly anticipatory metaphor), and chapter 3, which includes a
segment on metaphors of time. I found both of them interesting and
thought-provoking. I plan to read the rest of the book, and possibly
buy a copy.
Regards,
Tim
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