Scientific Thinking, Second Edition

This book introduces students to the core principles of scientific thinking, such as inductive reasoning, statistical inference, hypothesis confirmation, experimental methods, and more.

Scientific Thinking is a lively and practical guide to scientific reasoning. It provides comprehensive coverage of such topics as inductive reasoning, confirmation, demarcation, sampling, correlations, causality, hypotheses, experimental methods, and the role of values in science. These difficult topics are presented in an engaging way that clarifies rather than confounds, making for a student reading experience that is both enlightening and enjoyable. Drawing examples from both from the history of science as well as more modern scientific work, the book helps students recognize the ongoing importance of developing good habits of scientific thinking. Questions and exercises are interspersed throughout the text to encourage students to actively reflect on and engage with new concepts and key cases as they arise in the book.