Jean Miller here, reporting back from the island. Tonight we complete our “sweet sixteen” celebration of Mayo’s EGEK (1996) with the book review by Dr. Hasok Chang (currently the Hans Rausing Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge). His was chosen as our top favorite in the category of ‘reviews by philosophers’. Enjoy!
REVIEW: British Journal of the Philosophy of Science 48 (1997), 455-459
DEBORAH MAYO Error and the Growth of Experimental Knowledge, 
The University of Chicago Press, 1996
By: Hasok Chang
Deborah Mayo’s Error and the Growth of Experimental Knowledge is a rich, useful, and accessible book. It is also a large volume which few people can realistically be expected to read cover to cover. Considering those factors, the main focus of this review will be on providing various potential readers with guidelines for making the best use of the book.
As the author herself advises, the main points can be grasped by reading the first and the last chapters. The real benefit, however, would only come from studying some of the intervening chapters closely. Below I will offer comments on several of the major strands that can be teased apart, though they are found rightly intertwined in the book. Continue reading
Error Statistics Philosophy 