Beauty and Revolution in Science

McAllister, James

doi:10.7591/9781501728648

Cited by 99 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…One concems the notion of aesthetic induction and functional beauty, whereby usefulness establishes criteria for appraising beauty, continually reshaping the aesthetic canons on which subsequent works are evaluated (McAllister, 1996). Another such theme is that beauty appears to be more than just a way to describe objects or experiences; it also encompasses embodied emotions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The aesthetics of software code: A quantitative exploration.

Kozbelt¹,

Dexter²,

Dolese³

et al. 2012

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

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While research linking science and aesthetics continues to proliferate, in technical domains like software development, quantitative investigations of aesthetics are virtually nonexistent. As an initial exploration, we administered an online survey to 12 experts and 38 novices in programming, assessing the frequency, nature, time course, and judgment criteria of their aesthetic experience with software code. Both groups reported having aesthetic experiences with code, though somewhat less frequently and intensely than with other creative artifacts. Overall, judgments of "ugly" code were reported to be faster than those of "beautiful" code, which in tum were faster than those of "correct" code. Aesthetic considerations of code were generally rated as quite important, though not as important as functionality. Finally, aesthetic judgment criteria were highly correlated among experts and novices. Results suggest a quantitative approach to aesthetics in software code is a promising direction, with trans-domain implications for aesthetics and creativity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The aesthetics of software code: A quantitative exploration.

Kozbelt¹,

Dexter²,

Dolese³

et al. 2012

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

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show abstract

“…32 Inferring to the best explanation allows us to gain knowledge of explanatory hypotheses that are generated by our scientific theories on the basis of their explaining of our observational data. From our knowledge of explanatory 30 See Beebe (2009), Kuhn (1977), Lacey (2005), Lipton (2004), Longino (1990), Lycan (1988), McAllister (1996), McMullin (1982, Quine and Ullian (1978), Thagard (1978), and Vogel (1990) for a sampling of the explanatory virtues that have been proposed in various scientific contexts and the literature on the nature of explanation. Some might question whether the virtues listed are distinct-for example, some claim that predictive power is what separates ad hoc theories from those that are not (Popper 1959;Psillos 1999).…”

Section: Inference To the Best Explanationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Explanation and the Nature of Scientific Knowledge

McCain

2015

Sci & Educ

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Explaining phenomena is a primary goal of science. Consequently, it is unsurprising that gaining a proper understanding of the nature of explanation is an important goal of science education. In order to properly understand explanation, however, it is not enough to simply consider theories of the nature of explanation. Properly understanding explanation requires grasping the relation between explanation and understanding, as well as how explanations can lead to scientific knowledge. This article examines the nature of explanation, its relation to understanding, and how explanations are used to generate scientific knowledge via inferences to the best explanation. Studying these features and applications of explanation not only provides insight into a concept that is important for science education in its own right, but also sheds light on an aspect of recent debates concerning the so-called consensus view of nature of science (NOS). Once the relation between explanation, understanding, and knowledge is clear, it becomes apparent that science is unified in important ways. Seeing this unification provides some support for thinking that there are general features of NOS of the sort proposed by the consensus view and that teaching about these general features of NOS should be a goal of science education.

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“…Nor is the action squarely in the context of justification, since there is no presumed link between beauty and truth. McAllister (1996) argues for an important esthetic influence in judging individual theories as true or false. This complements the role I am proposing for beauty.…”

Section: The Structure Of Understandingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scientific Understanding

Kosso

2006

Found Sci

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Knowledge of many facts does not amount to understanding unless one also has a sense of how the facts fit together. This aspect of coherence among scientific observations and theories is usually overlooked in summaries of scientific method, since the emphasis is on justification and verification rather than on understanding. I argue that the inter-theoretic coherence, as the hallmark of understanding, is an essential and informative component of any accurate description of science.

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Beauty and Revolution in Science

Cited by 99 publications

References 46 publications

The aesthetics of software code: A quantitative exploration.

The aesthetics of software code: A quantitative exploration.

Explanation and the Nature of Scientific Knowledge

Scientific Understanding

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