Two unification strategies
analysis or reduction, and synthesis or integration
pp. 145-157
in: John Symons, Olga Pombo, Juan M. Torres (eds), Otto Neurath and the unity of science, Berlin, Springer, 2011Abstract
It is well known that, whereas two centuries ago there were only a handful of sciences, nowadays there are thousands. Just half a century ago, most physicists needed to consult only Physical Review. Today this journal has split into half a dozen publications, each of them devoted to a single subdiscipline, and read only by specialists in that branch. A similar branching out has been occurring in all the other research fields. In short, the branching out of science has been proceeded relentlessly. Something similar has been happening in technology and the humanities. On the surface, then, the collection of sciences look like a multicolored quilt.