Abstract

The monograph offers a thematic account of Niels Bohr’s scientific and philosophical thought. Starting from epistemological considerations relating to Lakatos’ Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes, it was the author’s aim to go back to the origin of the heuristic underlying Bohr’s theories on quantum physics. Then he came to integrate Lakatos’ view on methodology with Holton’s idea of thematic origin of scientific thought. Following these premises, it turned out, perhaps surprisingly, that Bohr’s basic methodological principle was the condition of continuity rather than discontinuity. Moreover, almost as a consequence of the thematic analysis, it became a priority of this volume to establish connections between so-called external factors and the ‘‘rational’’ development of the program.