Table of Contents

Preface; 1. Introduction Margaret Morrison and Mary S. Morgan; 2. Models as mediating instruments Margaret Morrison and Mary S. Morgan; 3. Models as autonomous agents Margaret Morrison; 4. Built-in justification Marcel Boumans; 5. The Ising model, computer simulation, and universal physics R. I. G. Hughes; 6. Techniques of modelling and paper-tools in classical chemistry Ursula Klein; 7. The role of models in the application of scientific theories: epistemological implications Mauricio Suarez; 8. Knife edge caricature modelling: the case of Marx's reproduction schema Geert Reuten; 9. Models and the limits of theory: quantum Hamiltonians and the BCS model of superconductivity Nancy Cartwright; 10. Past measurement and future prediction Adrienne van den Bogaard; 11. Models and stories in Hadron physics Stephan Hartmann; 12. Learning from models Mary S. Morgan.

Promotional Information

Edited collection examining the ways in which models are used in modern science.

Reviews

"This collection is a valuable addition to the growing literature on models... the reader will learn much from reading these essays." Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics "...describes how models in the sciences can act as automomous mediators between theory and the world, and uncovers the means by which models function as a source of knowledge." Journal of Economic Literature