''Science and Hypothesis'' (french: La Science et l'Hypothèse) is a book by French mathematician

Henri Poincaré Jules Henri Poincaré ( S: stress final syllable ; 29 April 1854 – 17 July 1912) was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and philosopher of science. He is often described as a polymath, and in mathematics as "The ...

, first published in 1902. Aimed at a non-specialist readership, it deals with mathematics,

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and nature. It puts forward the theses that absolute truth in science is unattainable, and that many commonly held beliefs of scientists are held as convenient conventions rather than because they are more valid than the alternatives. In this book, Poincaré describes open scientific questions regarding the photo-electric effect, Brownian motion, and the relativity of physical laws in space. Reading this book inspired

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

's subsequent

Annus Mirabilis papers The ''annus mirabilis'' papers (from Latin '' annus mīrābilis'', "miracle year") are the four papers that Albert Einstein published in ''Annalen der Physik'' (''Annals of Physics''), a scientific journal, in 1905. These four papers were major c ...

published in 1905. A new translation was published in November 2017.Science and Hypothesis
bloomsbury.com File:Poincaré-12.jpg, ''Science and hypothesis'' (1905) File:Poincaré-14.jpg, Table of contents to ''Science and hypothesis'' (1905) File:Poincaré-15.jpg, Table of contents to ''Science and hypothesis'' (1905) File:Poincaré-16.jpg, First page of ''Science and hypothesis'' (1905)

References

1902 non-fiction books Popular science books Mathematics books French non-fiction books {{mathematics-lit-stub