Susan Sterrett is a contemporary philosopher of science known for her work on analogical reasoning, physical models, and the philosophy of measurement. She has written extensively on the epistemological foundations of scale modeling and dimensional analysis, and on connections between early twentieth-century physics and philosophy, including Wittgenstein's early thought. Her scholarship bridges history and philosophy of science with formal analysis of inference and representation.
Developed a philosophical account of analogical reasoning grounded in dimensional analysis and physical similarity
Authored Wittgenstein Flies a Kite (2005), tracing the aeronautical and scientific context of the Tractatus
Analyzed Aristotle's paradeigma as an early formal structure for analogical and deductive reasoning
Contributed to the epistemology of scale models and what physical models can legitimately represent
Worked on the relationship between laws of nature, measurement, and model-based inference