1924 – 2016
Mary Hesse (1924–2016) was a British philosopher of science at the University of Cambridge, best known for her rigorous analysis of the role of models and analogical reasoning in scientific explanation and theory construction. Her landmark work argued that analogy is not merely a heuristic device but a constitutive feature of scientific inference. She was the first woman to deliver the Gifford Lectures (1983).
Authored 'Models and Analogies in Science' (1966), a foundational treatment of analogical inference in scientific reasoning
Developed a formal account of positive, negative, and neutral analogy as a structure for model-based explanation
Traced the logical roots of analogical reasoning back to Aristotle's paradeigma and its deductive implications
First woman to deliver the Gifford Lectures, subsequently published as 'Revolutions and Reconstructions in the Philosophy of Science' (1980)
Influenced constructivist and post-positivist philosophy of science through her critiques of purely formal accounts of explanation