Category archives: Philosophy of science

Has theoretical physics become a sleeping beauty?

Has theoretical physics become a sleeping beauty?

Philosophy of scienceTheoretical physics

By Jesús Zamora Bonilla

The progress that physics experienced during the 20 th century was probably one of the greatest and most everlasting successes of the humankind. Discovering the hidden and minute composition of matter and energy, as well as realising that the rules they obey are as further from common sense as quantum theory has revealed, are amongst […]

On scientific co-authorship (& 3): Intelectual property rights and the individualization of items of knowledge

On scientific co-authorship (& 3): Intelectual property rights and the individualization of items of knowledge

Philosophy of science

By Jesús Zamora Bonilla

In our previous entries , we asked why it is that collaborating scientists prefer to publish one single paper in which all their contributions are ‘mixed’, instead of one individual paper by each co-author (with quotations to the other collaborator’s paper where necessary). There is a relatively obvious (but, as I shall show, partial) answer […]

On scientific co-authorship (2): An economic diversion, Ronald Coase’s theory of the firm

On scientific co-authorship (2): An economic diversion, Ronald Coase’s theory of the firm

EconomicsPhilosophy of science

By Jesús Zamora Bonilla

Let me leave aside for a moment our talk about scientists and papers, and bring up a topic that, at first sight, might seem totally unconnected: Ronald Coase’s economic theory about the firm and the allocation of property rights. As in the case of the problem we mentioned in our last entry (why scientists share […]

On scientific co-authorship (1): Why do scientists publish together?

On scientific co-authorship (1): Why do scientists publish together?

Philosophy of science

By Jesús Zamora Bonilla

The allocation of merit to individual scientists is one of the crucial aspects of how scientific systems work. Publication of ‘papers’ in important journals, and, still most significantly, citation of those papers in the works of colleagues, is perhaps (with all its shortcomings ) the most determinant mechanism for recognising the value and capacity of […]