![]() ![]() "A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experimentation. Theories also allow scientists to make predictions about as yet unobserved phenomena." In science, the word theory refers to a comprehensive explanation of an important feature of nature supported by facts gathered over time. In everyday language a theory means a hunch or speculation. The explanation becomes a scientific theory. ![]() "Some scientific explanations are so well established that no new evidence is likely to alter them. The United States National Academy of Sciences describes a theory as: Formalization and the MetasystemTransition.Concerning the Axioms of Arithmeticand Logic.The Reliability of Mathematical Assertions.The Conservatism of Precritical Thinking.The Metasystem Transition in LinguisticActivity.The Phenomenological Definition ofSemantics.The Physical Object and the LogicalObject.Imagination, Planning, OvercomingInstinct.Why Associations of Representationsare Needed.The Transition to Phenomenological Descriptions.Table of Contents (links go to the HTML version) Whereas "The Macroscope" applies the concepts of systems theory and cybernetics synchronically, to get a large scale picture of the world in which we live, "The Phenomenon of Science" uses these concepts diachronically, to understand its historical development. As such it is complementary to another book published on Principia Cybernetica Web, Joël de Rosnay's " The Macroscope". It is particularly recommended to people who wish to understand the basic ideas behind the Principia Cybernetica Project. ![]() Happily, the Russian manuscript got to the West where it was translated and published by Columbia University Press, at about the same time that its author was forced to emigrate to the USA.Īlthough the original text is almost 30 years old, this visionary document is still highly relevant to our present situation and state of knowledge. The original manuscript was positively evaluated by Soviet reviewers, but was finally rejected for publication because of the dissident political activities of its author. The "Phenomenon of Science" first took shape during the 1960's in Russia. He is a founding editorof the Principia Cybernetica Project. Valentin Turchin, a cyberneticist, computer scientist and physicist, started his research career in the Soviet Union, but is presently an emeritus professor at the City College of the City University of New York (see his biography). Its originality lies in the integration of a cybernetic analysis of knowledge with the trial and error process of natural selection, which creates ever higher levels in the hierarchical organization of mind. It shows how the great advances in intelligence and cognition, from simple reflexes, to learning, thought, mathematical reasoning and the most advanced realms of metascientic analysis, can be understood as metasystem transitions, in which a higher level of control emerges. It discusses the evolution of humanity, starting from the first living cells up to human culture and science. It is directed at a broad, non-specialised public, and requires not more than high school mathematics. This is the first book to introduce the ideas of Metasystem Transitions Theory. ![]() Therefore, we have made it again available on the web, either chapter by chapter in HTML, or as a single file in PDF format (1.3 Mb) for printing (You can use it with the free PDF reader from Adobe.) If you prefer to read the book version, you might still be able to order a copy from the Amazon web bookshop. The book was originally published in1977 by Columbia University Press (New York), but is now out of print. A cybernetic approach to human evolution" by Valentin Turchin. "The Phenomenon of Science", a book on MSTTĪs part of our electronic library, Principia Cybernetica Web offers the complete text and drawings of thebook "The Phenomenon of Science. ![]()
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