Ronald N. Giere (NHC Fellow, 1997–98)

Fellowship Work Summary, 1997–98

Ronald N. Giere revised a set of eleven essays and wrote the introduction and conclusion for a collection to be titled Science without Laws/Realism without Truth which has been accepted for publication by the University of Chicago Press. Additionally, he explored the analogy between maps and models in science, did considerable reading in the history of cartography and in contemporary cartographic theory and practice, and explored the capabilities of geographical information systems, computer‑based methods for organizing and displaying information in spatial form. He attended the annual meeting of the History of Science Society in La Jolla, Calif., and was a commentator on an invited symposium on the role of models in science. He also presented a paper at a workshop on "Logical Empiricism in North America," held at Cambridge, Mass. The results of the workshop, which he is co-editing, will be published in a future volume of Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science. He was invited to give talks on the topic of "Naturalism and Realism" for the philosophy departments at Duke University, at three campuses of the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Greenville), and Ohio State University.