I've read dozens of works on the philosophy of science by all the major philosophers and scientists who have written on the subject and Scheffler's short work is the most concise, pithy, and cogent work I've seen. I underlined just about every other sentence, because he comes up with these great, pithy little statements that condense what other authors would take a whole paragraph to say. Super little book on the subject and a great way to get yourself started in this big and important area.

This book came to my attention in a Philosophy of Education class at Harvard University taught by V.A. Howard, one of the authors of the book. It brings together influences from the American Pragmatist, John Dewey, and the British Idealist R.G. Collingwood. One of my favorite quotes from the book is when Professor Howard says, "If art is an educational frill, a decoration upon basic education for work and survival, then so is science; for neither art nor science, as such, is driven by the principle of utility. Even as art is deemed "useless" from the standpoint of dichotomous utility, science is wrongly assumed always to be useful. . . . " A must read book for any educator's book shelves.