<p>This concise and accessible book is a synthesis of the basic principles of the contemporary realistic neopragmatist philosophy of science.&nbsp;It discusses the aim of basic science the methods of scientific discovery the criteria for scientific criticism and the nature of scientific explanation.&nbsp;Included is a description of a newly emergent specialty called computational philosophy of science in which computerized discovery systems create and test new scientific theories.</p><p><br></p><p>It also examines the essentials of the underlying realistic neopragmatist philosophy of language that has made philosophy of science a coherent and analytical discipline and that has given new meaning to such key terms as theory observation and explanation.</p>