Peter Achinstein

Peter Achinstein (* June 30, 1935 in New York City ) is an American philosopher and historian of science.

Life

Achinstein studied at Harvard University and graduated in 1956 with a BA from. Also at Harvard in 1958, he made his M. A. and 1961 his Ph. D.. He specializes in philosophy of science, and is also reported in the field of history of science.

Achinstein has received lectureships and fellowships from the Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Humanities ( NEH ) and the National Science Foundation ( NSF) and has held professorships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Achinstein taught for many years at Johns Hopkins University and is since January 2009, Professor at the Center for History and Philosophy of Science from Yeshiva University.

He is married and has two children.

Publications

In addition to articles ( including "The Identity of Properties " ) is Achinstein is the author of

  • Concepts of Science, 1968
  • Law and Explanation, 1983
  • Particles and Waves, 1991

Recent publications are:

  • The Book of Evidence ( Oxford University Press, 2003)
  • Is There a Valid Experimental Argument for Scientific Realism? (Journal of Philosophy 99 (2002) 470-495 )
  • A Historical Introduction to Scientific Methods ( Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004)

Awards

In 1993 he received together with Alexander Rosenberg the prestigious Lakatos Award for work "Economics - Mathematical Politics or Science of Diminsing Returns".

1343
de