1937 – 2010
Elie Zahar was a philosopher of science associated with the London School of Economics, best known for his work defending and extending Imre Lakatos's methodology of scientific research programmes. He made significant contributions to the philosophy of Henri Poincaré, arguing that Poincaré's conventionalism represents a sophisticated epistemological position rather than mere instrumentalism, and examined the philosophical foundations of geometry and physical theory.
Extended Lakatos's methodology of scientific research programmes, defending scientific realism against Kuhnian relativism
Authored 'Poincaré's Philosophy: From Conventionalism to Phenomenology' (2001), a landmark reassessment of Poincaré's epistemology
Argued that geometric conventionalism entails that metric geometry is neither empirically true nor false, but a matter of definitional choice
Analyzed Einstein's special relativity through the lens of Lorentz's research programme in 'Einstein's Revolution' (1989)
Contributed to structural realism debates by examining the relationship between mathematical structure and physical reality