The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory
Abstract
This classic work in the philosophy of physical science is an incisive and readable account of the scientific method. Pierre Duhem was one of the great figures in French science, a devoted teacher, and a distinguished scholar of the history and philosophy of science. This book represents his most mature thought on a wide range of topics.
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Physical theories, on their own, do not make testable predictions; one needs to add auxiliary propositions to the theories one wishes to test.
“As the philosopher Pierre Duhem (1954) emphasized, physical theories, on their own, do not make testable predictions.”
From WHAT IS WRONG WITH INTELLIGENT DESIGN? (2007) · cites this paper as Duhem 1954
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Cited by 2,128
- Authors
- Duhem, P. M. M.
- Corresponding author
- Duhem, Pierre Maurice Marie
- Venue
- Princeton University Press eBooks
- Publisher
- Princeton University Press
- Published
- 1954-12-31
- OpenAlex
- W2515951737
- Cited by
- 2,128
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 93 · 2024: 44 · 2023: 73 · 2022: 59 · 2021: 75 · 2020: 72 · 2019: 128 · 2018: 64 · 2017: 60 · 2016: 44 · 2015: 60 · 2014: 50 · 2013: 48 · 2012: 64
- FWCI
- 59.70
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Princeton University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy, Science, and History
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy and History of Science
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › History of Science and Medicine
- Keywords
- Pierre Duhem, scientific method, physical theories, structure of physical theories, history of science
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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
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