In one of the first works on the subject, Maurice A. Finocchiaro examines history-of-science methodology according to the concept of explanation. He weighs the practice of the discipline by a detailed investigation of Alexandre Koyré's and Henry Guerlac's ideas; analyzes the scientific growth of the knowledge with a careful evaluation of the opinions of T. S. Kuhn and Karl Popper; reviews Joseph Agassi's and his critics' philosophy of the historiography of science and compares the definitions of "history" given by Michael Scriven and Benedetto Croce. He also discusses the connections between the history and philosophy of science; the correlations between scholarship and history and chronicle; the rise of modern science and the necessary bridging of its external and internal explanatory factors; and the logical relation between the structure of history-of-science explanation. Ultimately, Finocchiaro lays the foundation for a "historicist philosophy," a historical approach to the very nature of science.

Those who want to study the history of science, understand its historical evolution, or examine the nature of science from a historical perspective, will find this a careful analysis and a highly original work.