This is a very good book. It addresses central questions about the interpretation of physical theories; it develops, in a nuanced way, some important possible answers to these questions; the writing is clear; there is diligent attention to the literature; and the author’s philosophical temperament—open-minded, resourceful—is vivid throughout. Furthermore, the writing is, by the standards of much of the current literature in philosophy of physics, nontechnical. So the book forms a natural entry point for philosophers who want to learn about these questions and this literature.
In this praise, I concur with several previous reviews: a happy convergence. (It is just unfortunate that this review is late, owing to administrative delays that are the fault of neither this journal nor this reviewer.) And accordingly, I propose to use this review as an invitation to newcomers to the subject. So I will spell out some main themes and claims of North’s...
