Bechtel, W. and R. C. Richardson (1993). Discovering complexity: decomposition and localization as strategies in scientific research. Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press. [buy book]
Card catalog description
Discovering Complexity offers an account of scientific discovery that aims to be
psychologically and historically realistic. Drawing on cases from a number of life
sciences, including biochemistry, genetics, and neuroscience, this study of the
dynamics of theory development focuses on two psychological heuristics,
decomposition and localization. William Bechtel and Robert Richardson identify a
number of "choice-points" that scientists confront in developing mechanistic
explanations and describe how different choices result in divergent explanatory
models. According to Bechtel and Richardson's analysis, decomposition is the
attempt to differentiate components of a system, while localization assigns
responsibility for specific tasks to these components. The book examines in detail
the usefulness of these heuristics in biological science, but also discusses their
fallibility: underlying their use is the sometimes false assumption that nature is
significantly decomposable and hierarchical. When a system does not appear to be
decomposable, a classic response has been to abandon the pursuit of mechanistic
explanation and to settle for accurate descriptions of phenomena. More recently,
with advances in mathematical modeling, an alternative has emerged. Described in
this work is an approach to explanation that appeals to interactions between simple
components, rather than assigning functions to individual components.
Table of Contents
Preface
Pt. I. Scientific Discovery and Rationality
Ch. 1. Cognitive strategies and Scientific Discovery
1. Rationalizing Scientific Discovery
2. Procedural Rationality
Ch. 2. Complex Systems and Mechanistic Explanations
1. Mechanistic Explanation
2. Decomposition and Localization
3. Hierarchy and Organization
4. Conclusion: Failure of Localization
Pt. II. Emerging Mechanisms
Introduction
Ch. 3. Identifying the Locus of Control
1. Introduction: Identifying System and Context
2. External Control: The Environment as a Control
3. Internal Control: The System as a Control
4. Fixing on a Locus of Control: The Cell in Respiration
5. Conclusion: Localization of Function
Ch. 4. Direct Localization
1. Introduction: Relocating Control
2. Phrenology and Cerebral Localization
3. Competing Models of Cellular Respiration
4. Conclusion: Direct Localization and Competing Mechanisms
Ch. 5. The Rejection of Mechanism
1. Introduction: Mechanism and Its Opponents
2. Flourens and the Integrity of the Nervous System
3. The Vitalist Opposition to Mechanistic Physiology
4. Conclusion: Settling for Descriptions
Pt. III. Elaborating Mechanisms
Introduction
Ch. 6. Complex Localization
1. Introduction: Constraints on Localization
2. Top-Down Constraints
3. Bottom-Up Constraints
4. Conclusion: The Rise and Decline of Decomposability
Ch. 7. Integrated Mechanisms
1. Introduction: Replacing a Direct Localization
2. Direct Localization of Fermentation in Zymase
3. A Complex Linear Model of Fermentation
4. An Integrated System Responsible for Fermentation
5. Conclusion: The Discovery of Integration
Ch. 8. Reconstituting the Phenomena
1. Introduction: Biochemical Genetics
2. Classical Genetics
3. Developmental Genetics
4. One Gene/One Enzyme
5. Conclusion: Reconstituting the Phenomena
Pt. IV. Emergent Mechanism
Introduction
Ch. 9. "Emergent" Phenomena in Interconnected
Networks
1. Introduction: Dispensing with Modules
2. Hierarchical Control: Hughlings Jackson's
Analysis of the Nervous System
3. Parallel Distributed Processing and Cognition
4. Distributed Mechanisms for Genomic
Regulation
5. Conclusion: Mechanistic Explanations without
Functional Decomposition and Localization
Ch. 10. Constructing Causal Explanations
1. Decomposition and Localization in Perspective
2. Four Constraints on Development
3. Conclusion: Looking Forward
Notes
References
Index