The Scientific Method: An Evolution of Thinking from Darwin to Dewey

The Scientific Method: An Evolution of Thinking from Darwin to Dewey by Henry M. Cowles

The subtitle is the key to this book. The book looks at how the sociology of science evolved from the time of Dewey to Darwin. While "hard science" is covered in passing, the primary interest is in social sciences. The idea of using science to study human activity is something new in the book. The book rambles on about various practitioners and does show a connection of thought. It doesn't present much to show we should care. Science did move from primarily observational to hypothesis evaluation. The concept of evolution was moved to apply to social science. Social scientists studied animals and children to get new insights. The book has the feel of a student that just dumped a lot of facts into a paper.