{"id":428,"date":"2019-08-29T12:51:58","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T16:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/philo\/?post_type=profile&#038;p=428"},"modified":"2026-01-13T13:45:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T18:45:38","slug":"alisa-bokulich","status":"publish","type":"profile","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/philo\/profile\/alisa-bokulich\/","title":{"rendered":"Alisa Bokulich"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><span><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Website:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/bokulich.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/bokulich.org<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><span>Research Group: <\/span><\/strong><strong><span><a href=\"https:\/\/bokulich.org\/%cf%86-geo-group\/\">\u03a6-Geo<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/philo\/files\/2019\/08\/Picture1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"446\" height=\"155\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9003\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CPHS Website:<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cphs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">www.bu.edu\/cphs<\/a><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Areas of Interest:<\/span> Philosophy of Science; Philosophy of Geosciences (Earth Sciences); Philosophy of Physics; Science, Technology &amp; Values; History of Science<\/p>\n<p>Alisa Bokulich received her Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame&#8217;s Program in History &amp; Philosophy of Science. She is the director of the Center for Philosophy &amp; History of Science at BU (since 2010), where she also organizes the Boston Colloquium for Philosophy of Science. Professor Bokulich is also an Associate Member of Harvard University\u2019s History of Science Department and was a 2021-22 Harvard Radcliffe Fellow.<\/p>\n<p>Bokulich\u2019s research is primarily focused on scientific modeling, data, and explanation in the physical sciences, especially (more recently) the Earth sciences (geosciences).\u00a0 She is currently writing a new monograph on the philosophy of the geosciences, which draws on conceptual and methodological issues in geomorphology, stratigraphy, paleontology, and geochronology, with chapters on issues related to models, data, uncertainty, typification, and the philosophy of geologic time.<\/p>\n<p>Professor Bokulich&#8217;s teaching at Boston University includes courses in the philosophy of science; philosophy of Earth sciences; philosophy of physics; gender, race and science; and science, technology, and values.<\/p>\n<h3>Publications<\/h3>\n<h4>Books:<\/h4>\n<p><em>Reexamining the Quantum-Classical Relation: Beyond Reductionism and Pluralism<\/em> (Cambridge University Press, 2008). <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/catalogue\/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521857208\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CUP<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Reexamining-Quantum-Classical-Relation-Reductionism-Pluralism\/dp\/0521857201\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1235660069&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/philo\/files\/2019\/09\/ReexaminingCover.jpg\" height=\"193\" width=\"135\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/bjps.oxfordjournals.org\/content\/early\/2010\/11\/09\/bjps.axq022.full.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Review by Sir Michael Berry<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Review by Gordon Belot and Lina Jansson<\/li>\n<li>Review by Dennis Dieks<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Philosophy of Quantum Information and Entanglement<\/em>, co-edited with Gregg Jaeger (Cambridge University Press, 2010).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/philo\/files\/2019\/09\/QuantumInfomationCover.jpg\" height=\"193\" width=\"135\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Scientific Structuralism<\/em> (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science), co-edited with Peter Bokulich (Springer, 2010).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/philo\/files\/2019\/08\/scistructuralismcover.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"173\" height=\"292\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9004\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Kuhn\u2019s Structure of Scientific Revolutions \u2013 50 Years On<\/em> (Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science), co-edited with William Devlin, (Springer 2015).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/philo\/files\/2016\/02\/KuhnSSR50-BSPS.jpeg\" height=\"223\" width=\"141\" class=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<h4>Papers:<\/h4>\n<p>Bocchi, Federica, Alisa Bokulich, Leticia Castillo Brache, Gloria Grand-Pierre, Aja Watkins (forthcoming) \u201cAre We in a Sixth Mass Extinction? The Challenges of Answering and Value of Asking\u201d <em>British Journal for the Philosophy of Science<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Bokulich, Alisa and Federica Bocchi (forthcoming) \u201cKuhn\u2019s \u20185th Law of Thermodynamics\u2019: Measurement, Data, and Anomalies\u201d in <em>Kuhn\u2019s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions at 60<\/em>, ed. by K. Brad Wray. Cambridge University Press<\/p>\n<p>Bokulich, Alisa &amp; Aja Watkins (2022) \u201cData Models\u201c. In James Mattingly (ed.), <em>SAGE Encyclopedia of Theory in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Bokulich, A. (2021) \u201cTaming the Tyranny of Scales: Models &amp; Scale in the Geosciences\u201d <em>Synthese<\/em> 199, 14167\u201314199 (2021). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s11229-021-03416-w<\/p>\n<p>Bokulich, A. and W. Parker (2021), \u201cData Models, Representation, &amp; Adequacy for Purpose\u201d <em>European Journal for Philosophy of Science<\/em> 11: 31, pp. 1-26. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s13194-020-00345-2<\/p>\n<p>(2020), \u201cUnderstanding Scientific Types: Holotypes, Stratotypes, &amp; Measurement Prototypes\u201d <em>Biology &amp; Philosophy<\/em> 35: 54.<\/p>\n<p>(2020) \u201cTowards a Taxonomy of the Model-Ladenness of Data\u201d <em>Philosophy of Science<\/em> 87 (5): 793-806.<\/p>\n<p>(2020) \u201cCalibration, Coherence, and Consilience in Radiometric Measures of Geologic Time\u201d <em>Philosophy of Science <\/em>87(3): 425\u2013456.<\/p>\n<p>(2020) \u201cLosing Sight of the Forest for the \u03a8: Beyond the Wavefunction Hegemony\u201d in S. French and J. Saatsi (eds.) <em>Scientific Realism and the Quantum<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>(2021 [2018]) \u201cUsing Models to Correct Data: Paleodiversity and the Fossil Record,\u201d <em>Synthese<\/em><strong> 198<\/strong>\u00a0(Suppl 24): 5919\u20135940\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s11229-018-1820-x\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s11229-018-1820-x<\/a><\/p>\n<p>(2018) \u201cRepresenting and Explaining: The Eikonic Conception of Scientific Explanation\u201d <em>Philosophy of Science<\/em> 85 (5): 793-805.<\/p>\n<p>(2018) &#8220;Searching for Noncausal Explanations in a Sea of Causes&#8221; <em>Explanation Beyond Causation<\/em>, ed. by A. Reutlinger and J. Saatsi. Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n<p>(2017) \u201cModels in the Geosciences,\u201d (coauthored with Naomi Oreskes) <em>Handbook of Model-Based Science<\/em>, ed. by L. Magnani and T. Bertolotti. Springer.<\/p>\n<p>(2017) \u201cModels and Explanation,\u201d <em>Handbook of Model-Based Science<\/em>, ed. by L. Magnani and T. Bertolotti. Springer.<\/p>\n<p>(2017) \u201cOn the Identity of Thought Experiments: Thought Experiments Rethought\u201d (Co-authored with M\u00e9lanie Frappier ), <em>Routledge Companion to Thought Experiments<\/em> Eds. J.R. Brown, Y. Fehige, &amp; M. Stuart.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Fiction As a Vehicle for Truth: Moving Beyond the Ontic Conception&#8221; <em>The Monist<\/em> 99 (3): 260-279 (2016a).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaxwell, Helmholtz, and the Unreasonable Effectiveness of the Method of Physical Analogy,\u201d <em>Studies in History and Philosophy of Science<\/em> 50: 28-37 (2015).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMetaphysical Indeterminacy, Properties, and Quantum Theory,\u201d <em>Res Philosophica<\/em> 91 (3): 449-475 (2014).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;How the Tiger Bush Got Its Stripes: &#8216;How Possibly&#8217; vs. &#8216;How Actually&#8217; Model Explanations&#8221; <em>Monist<\/em> 97(3): 323-340 (2014).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPluto and the Planet Problem: Folk Concepts and Natural Kinds in Astronomy\u201d <em>Perspectives on Science<\/em> 22 (4): 464-490 (2014).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Explanatory Models vs. Predictive Models: Reduced Complexity Modeling in Geomorphology&#8221; in <em>Recent Progress in Philosophy of Science: Perspective &amp; Foundational Problems<\/em>. Dordrecht: Springer (2013)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Distinguishing Explanatory from Non-Explanatory Fictions&#8221;, <em>Philosophy of Science<\/em> 79 (5): 725-737 (2012).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;How Scientific Models Can Explain&#8221;, <em>Synthese<\/em> 180 (1): 33-45 (2011).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Three Approaches to the Quantum-Classical Relation: Bohr, Heisenberg &amp; Dirac&#8221; <em>Iyyun: The Jerusalem Philosophical Quarterly<\/em> 59: (January 2010): 3-28.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Bohr&#8217;s Correspondence Principle,&#8221; <em>Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy<\/em>. (2010)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Explanatory Fictions, &#8221; in M. Suarez (Ed.) <em>Fictions in Science: Philosophical Essays on Modeling and Idealization<\/em> (Routledge, 2009: 91-109).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Can Classical Structures Explain Quantum Phenomena?&#8221; <em>British Journal for the Philosophy of Science<\/em> 59(2): 217-235 (2008)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Paul Dirac and the Einstein-Bohr Debate,&#8221; <em>Perspectives on Science<\/em> 16(1): 103-114 (2008).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHeisenberg Meets Kuhn: Closed Theories and Paradigms,\u201d <em>Philosophy of Science<\/em> 73: 90-107 (2006).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Niels Bohr&#8217;s Generalization of Classical Mechanics,&#8221; (co-authored by Peter Bokulich) <em>Foundations of Physics<\/em> 35(3): 347-371 (2005).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Open or Closed? Dirac, Heisenberg, and the Relation between Classical and Quantum Mechanics,&#8221; <em>Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics<\/em> 35 (3): 377-396 (2004).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Horizontal Models: From Bakers to Cats,&#8221; <em>Philosophy of Science<\/em> 70: 609-627 (2003).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Quantum Measurements and Supertasks,&#8221; <em>International Studies in the Philosophy of Science<\/em> 17: 127-136 (2003).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Rethinking Thought Experiments,&#8221; <em>Perspectives on Science<\/em> 9: 285-307 (2001).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7468,"template":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/philo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile\/428"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/philo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/philo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/profile"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/philo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7468"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/philo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile\/428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9005,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/philo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile\/428\/revisions\/9005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/philo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}