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The present volume helps to understand how the collection of miscellaneous disciplines, called the science of science, came into being. One tradition goes back to the Greek thinkers and includes practically every great name in the history of philosophy, since almost all philosophers took a stand on epistemological problems. To be sure, theory of knowledge is not to be identified with theory of science. Science is a relatively new phenomenon, dating from modern times. It is a source of knowledge, the main source (in our type of culture), but certainly not the only one. Also, epistemology deals with questions rather far removed from the practice of science. The nature of truth; the sources of knowledge; the limits of knowledge. Many people claim to understand science without being able to solve these perennial problems. What we call today the science of science is not concerned with, say, the Kantian question how synthetic a priori truths are possible. However, the influence of the philosophical heritage is still felt in present day metascientific thOUght. Philosophy of science does exist, although in a form very different from classical epis temology. It has developed (under that name) into general metho dology of science, which roughly means: analysis of scientific theories and analysis of their validation. In both cases, mathematical and logical tools playa great role. Scientific theories are analyzed by means of modern semantics (theory of models). Their valida tion is reconstructed in terms of probability and decision theory.
The volume is a collection of essays about prominent Polish 20th century philosophers of science and scientists who were concerned with problems in the philosophy of science. The contribution made by Polish logicians, especially those from the Lvov-Warsaw School, like Łukasiewicz, Kotarbiński, Czeżowski or Ajdukiewicz, is already well known. One of the aims of the volume is to offer a broader perspective. The papers collected here are devoted to the work of such philosophers as Zawirski, Metallmann, Dąmbska, Mehlberg, Szaniawski and Giedymin as well as to the work of such scientists as Smoluchowski, Fleck, Infeld and Chyliński. The introduction to the volume, written by the editor and Jacek Jadacki, presents an overview of the history of the Polish philosophy of science from the foundation of the Cracow Academy (in 1364) to the present.