Philosophy of Science

Alexander Bird's book is a concise, solid and thorough introduction to philosophy of science. As such, it covers all the major topics in a typical (Anglo-American) university course on philosophy of science -- explanation, theory change, scientific realism, laws of nature, causation. Neighbouring fields are also discussed in some detail, plus some (at times original) new examples. The author makes clear that he has no intention of covering non-standard (or non-philosophical) approaches to science -- hence, there is little history of science, no detailed case studies and no SSK or science studies. The author is open about these limits, and they do not diminish in the least the usefulness of the book for any university/college course in mainstream philosophy of science. Yet another example of a good British (or should I say Scottish?) philosophy textbook!