Springer Handbook of Model-Based Science

The Springer Handbook of Model-Based Science provides a systematic technical overview of how scientists use conceptual and physical structures to represent reality. The text details the function of models as mediators between abstract theory and empirical experimentation. It covers specific frameworks including abductive reasoning, computer simulations, and the cognitive processes involved in mental modeling. Contributors examine how models facilitate scientific discovery through hypothesis testing and the manipulation of logical variables. The volume also includes analysis of visual diagrams and mathematical schemes as tools for explaining complex biological, physical, and economic phenomena.

This reference work is designed for researchers, philosophers of science, and graduate students across the natural and social sciences. Readers gain a technical understanding of how to construct, validate, and apply models within their specific disciplines. It provides a formal vocabulary for discussing the epistemology of scientific practice. By reading this handbook, scholars acquire the theoretical tools necessary to analyze the inferential reliability of simulations and the role of creativity in structured scientific inquiry.

Deep and outward-looking; a demanding read.

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