The Failure of Armchair Economics

'?f* This month you and a group of co-authors are bringing out a new book, Scientific Discovery. You call it a report on scientific work in progress. To what is your research ultimately leading? A. We are aiming to provide a comprehensive theory of the processes that scientists use to make scientific discoveries. We developed a rough taxonomy of discovery processesthere are many that scientists actually useand we designed computer programs that simulate human thought processes as scientists work toward discoveries. In this project we have come to grips with some of the central issues in the philosophy and history of science. We are trying to find out what drives the development of new science. Is theory the driving force, or do data lead and theories follow?