1902- . Austrian philosopher of science. His
theory of falsificationism says that although
scientific generalizations cannot be
conclusively verified, they can be
conclusively falsified by a counterinstance;
therefore, science is not certain knowledge
but a series of `conjectures and
refutations', approaching, though never
reaching, a definitive truth. For Popper,
psychoanalysis and Marxism are unfalsifiable
and therefore unscientific. His major work on
the philosophy of science is The Logic of
Scientific Discovery 1935. Other works
include The Poverty of Historicism 1957
(about the philosophy of social science),
Conjectures and Refutations 1963, and
Objective Knowledge 1972. Born and educated
in Vienna, Popper became a naturalized
British subject 1945 and was professor of
logic and scientific method at the London
School of Economics 1949-69. He opposes
Wittgenstein's view that philosophical
problems are merely pseudoproblems. Popper's
view of scientific practice has been
criticized by T S Kuhn and other writers.