POPPER, Karl R. The Logic of Scientific Discovery. London: Hutchinson. 1959.
8vo. Original cloth and wrapper, top edge stained red; pp. 480; spine of wrapper sunned with foxing to rear panel and edges, fore-edges slightly foxed, otherwise very good.
First UK edition, first printing.
Originally published in German as Logik der Forschung in 1934, this book has the rare distinction of being a major work rewritten in a second language by the author himself, rather than being translated. It also contains entirely new material that had not been previously published, including one hundred and fifty pages of new appendices. It is one of the most important works of logic of the twentieth century, centring on Popper's crucial argument that science should progress along a methodology of falsification, as, while no experiment can ever prove a theory definitively, it can easily disprove one. He also argues that the only true knowledge is scientific, empirical knowledge. These two arguments, which now seem so plain, formed the basis of Popper's reputation and revolutionised science. As the Times Literary Supplement wrote at the time "Professor Popper's thesis has that quality of greatness that, once seen, it appears simple and almost obvious".
Popper's insistence that human knowledge is fallible would later extend beyond science and into the political realm. The principles expounded in this book led him to criticise, for instance, Marxists for continuing to follow an empirical theory that has failed in practice (The Poverty of Historicism, 1957). The ability of the electorate's ability to change governments is just as important in an open society as is the capacity to test and reconsider hypotheses in scientific research. The influence of this book is felt far beyond the laboratory.
SKU: 2123761