Our Knowledge of the Past

Review of the hardback: 'This is an important work on a topic - the development of a scientific approach to historical knowledge. Tucker treats this problem both historically (tracing the emergence of a scientific approach back to early nineteenth-century historians such as Ranke) and also conceptually (grappling with the probabilistic nature of inferences about the past). He also identifies parallel developments in other disciplines including textual criticism and evolutionary biology. The book reminds me of Ian Hacking's work on the history of probability theory, in that both combine history and conceptual analysis in a fruitful way.' Elliott Sober, Stanford University Review of the hardback: 'This is an important book ... Tucker importantly attends also to the non-scientific and underdetermined nature of historiographic interpretation ... I affirm the importance of Tucker's book. His is a question worth asking.' Journal of Philosophy Review of the hardback: '... a well-informed and accessible guide to the main modern approaches to the key questions that underlie the writing of history ...' Historiographia Linguistica T[ucker]'s book is a useful reference both for those who are involved in the philosophy of history and those who study history of historiography, as it can join scientific rigour and a very clear and involving esposition. -Gabriella Vanotti, Universita Cattolica Milano, The Classic Bulletin