The Devil in the Details: Asymptotic Reasoning in Explanation, Reduction, and Emergence (Oxford Studies in the Philosophy of Science)

## Abstract This book focuses on a form of reasoning in science that I call “asymptotic reasoning.” At base, this type of reasoning involves methods that eliminate details and, in some sense, precision. Asymptotic reasoning has received systematic treatment in physics and applied mathematics, but virtually no attention has been paid to it by philosophers of science. I argue that once one understands the role played by asymptotic reasoning in explanatory arguments of scientists, our philosophical conceptions of explanation, reduction, and emergence require significant modification. Robert Batterman examines a form of scientific reasoning called asymptomatic reasoning, arguing that it has important consequences for our understanding of the scientific process as a whole. He maintains that asymptomatic reasoning is essential for explaining what physicists call universal behavior. With clarity and rigor, he simplifies complex questions about universal behavior, demonstrating a profound understanding of the underlying structures that ground them. This book introduces a valuable new method that is certain to fill explanatory gaps across disciplines. The author's study of the complexities of universal behaviour, proposes that asymptotic reasoning is essential for explaining universal behaviour. This has important consequences for our understanding of the scientific process as a whole This chapter will introduce, via the consideration of several simple examples, the nature and importance of asymptotic reasoning.