New approaches in science

physical research [1929a]

Hans Reichenbach

pp. 245-248

in: Maria Reichenbach, Robert S. Cohen (eds), Selected writings 1909–1953, Berlin, Springer, 1978

Abstract

The extensive development undergone by the most exact of all the sciences during the past century, and particularly during the last quarter of a century, has found expression not only in a wealth of new knowledge but also, and equally, in a transformation of its working methods. It may be this transfiguration that holds particular attractions for the observer interested more in the picture as a whole than in the individual details. It is, indeed, sometimes possible to gain deeper insights into a science through a glance at its methods than through a summary of its material results, for such insights reveal the evolution of the very mechanisms of human thought.