The Foundations of Science: Science and Hypothesis, the Value of Science, Science and Method

Henri Poincaré was the last great universalist, a mathematician and physicist who could explain the deepest ideas in science with the clarity of a essayist and the rigor of a philosopher. This volume collects three of his most influential works: Science and Hypothesis, The Value of Science, and Science and Method. Together, they form a masterful inquiry into how we know what we think we know. Poincaré interrogates the foundations of scientific reasoning: Are mathematical truths discovered or invented? What role do hypotheses play in experiments? Is there a scientific method, or does each discipline find its own way? His answers remain startling. He argues that much of mathematics is a creative act, not mere deduction, and that the very architecture of our minds shapes what science can discover. Written before Einstein's relativity or quantum mechanics fully emerged, Poincaré's reflections anticipate the revolutions to come. For anyone who has ever wondered what science actually is, rather than merely what it produces, this book remains essential.