Relations Between Sciences

In this book, which was originally published in 1968, Professor Pantin examines the relations between the sciences. He considers why certain kinds of classification are especially acceptable to the human mind, and what are the forces, often unrecognised, which give the impulse to scientific research and influence its direction.

Professor Pantin's wide range of scientific interests - he was a professional zoologist, an excellent field geologist and widely read in physics - enable him to speak authoritatively concerning the relations between the sciences. In this book, which was originally published in 1968, Professor Pantin pursues the ideas to which he first gave expression in his Tarner Lectures. He explains that the most difficult scientific problems lie in the unrestricted biological sciences, not in the physical, or restricted, sciences. He points out that the basic aim of all scientific research is the classification of attributes and events, and considers why certain kinds of classification are especially acceptable to the human mind, and what are the forces, often unrecognised, which give the impulse to scientific research and influence its direction. The book will appeal both to professional scientists and to philosophers of science.