De ‘Probabilistic Revolution’ in de wetenschappen

Abstract

The probabilistic revolution in the sciences In this article is discussed how in the nineteenth century probability entered various sciences successively: astronomy, 'science of society', biology, physics and after the second World War psychology. To bridge the gaps between the sciences successful reasonings of analogy were used. During this process probabilistic concepts got other meanings. For example, the bell-shaped curve represented observational error in astronomy, then biological variation in the science of society and thereafter anarchic gas molecules in physics. The sciences changed radically as well. During the interaction with a science, new statistical techniques were developed which later became general applicable statistical tools. The stages of the probabilistic revolution, according to I. Hacking, which describe a revolution on a conceptual level, are mentioned. However, the probabilistic revolution in the sciences as described in this article proved to be too complex to characterise only in conceptual terms.