Hasok Chang receives Fernando Gil International Prize in Philosophy of Science

The Fernando Gil International Prize in Philosophy of Science 2013 was awarded to Hasok Chang, for his book Is Water H2O? Evidence Realism and Pluralism. In the award-winning title, the author visits the history behind the H2O formula for representing water, looking at its relationship with two central themes in the philosophy of science, scientific realism and pluralism.

In the 2013 edition, the jury also awarded an honorable mention to Mark Priestley for his book A Science of Operations. Machines, Logic and the Invention of Programming. The relationship between logic and computing is the central theme of this title, which follows the period before the invention of the computer and the development of programming languages up until 1970.

The ceremony to award the Fernando Gil Prize will take place on March 20th at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. In the program of the ceremony, the philosopher Fernando Gil will be remembered in an evocation by Paulo Tunhas, and Hasok Chang will receive the award, followed by a conference by the prize-winner entitled "History and Philosophy of Science in the service of Scientific Pluralism".

On the morning of the same day, there will be a workshop on the theme of Scientific Realism, in which Hasok Chang will discuss "Scientific Realism in the context of chemistry". The program includes sessions by Henrique Leitão and Fernando Barriga, in interventions moderated by several members of the Fernando Gil Prize jury. Registration is open until March 12th.

Also as part of the award ceremony, the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon will host Hasok Chang for the conference "Bringing History and Philosophy of Science Back Together" on March 21.

The Fernando Gil International Prize in Philosophy of Science is a joint initiative of the Portuguese government, represented by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Created as a tribute to the work and memory of the philosopher Fernando Gil, this prize was awarded for the first time in 2010, and this year its third edition is being held. The prize aims to distinguish work of exceptional quality in the field of Philosophy of Science, considering general epistemological problems and problems relating to specific scientific areas.