Books

First edition, first printing of one of the most significant works on the philosophy of science. The Logic of Scientific Discovery was originally published in Germany in 1934, and Popper rewrote and republished it in English in 1959, with the New York edition preceding this much rarer UK edition. A fine copy in a near-fine unclipped dust wrapper which shows some light scattered foxing on the spine and a contemporary ownership inscription on the title page. The book is mostly unopened and looks mostly unread save for the ownership signature. A nice copy. Popper argues that science should adopt a methodology based on falsifiability, because no number of experiments can ever prove a theory, but a reproducible experiment or observation can refute one. According to Popper: "non-reproducible single occurrences are of no significance to science. Thus a few stray basic statements contradicting a theory will hardly induce us to reject it as falsified. We shall take it as falsified only if we discover a reproducible effect which refutes the theory". Popper argues that science should adopt a methodology based on "an asymmetry verifiability and falsifiability; an asymmetry which results from the logical form of universal statements. For these are never derivable from singular statements but can be contradicted by singular statements" (Wikipedia).

In this book, Karl Popper provides a comprehensive account of his philosophy of science, challenging the traditional inductive approach to scientific inquiry.