Background

I received my PhD (2015) from the University of Toronto and spent the following year as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Philosophy of Science. Before coming to Columbia, I also taught at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and most recently at Cambridge University.

Research Interests

My research examines the ways in which constructing, manipulating, and evaluating scientific models enables learning about the physical systems they represent. I understand scientific models and modeling practices as facilitating the optimal use of time and other resources and aim to determine how they are able to do so. In particular, how can modeling integrate information from disparate theoretical and empirical sources most effectively? My research draws upon historical and contemporary scientific practice, particularly in structural biology. This in turn informs my work on how historical case studies can be used to draw normative philosophical conclusions about scientific practice.

Publications

• Bolinska, A. (2022). 'A monist proposal: Against integrative pluralism about protein structure', Erkenntnis. 
• Bolinska, A. & Martin, J. D. (2021). ‘The tragedy of the canon; or, path dependence in the history and philosophy of science’, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 89:63-73.
  • An author interview about this paper is available at the Circle: Philosophy, Science, and History.
• Suárez, M. & Bolinska, A. (2021). ‘Informative models: Idealization and abstraction’, in Cassini, A. & Redmond, J. (eds.), Idealizations in Science:. Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science, vol 50. Springer, Cham.
• Bolinska, A. & Martin, J. D. (2020) ‘Negotiating history: contingency, canonicity, and case studies’, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 80:37-46.
  • Winner of the 2019 International Union for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology Essay Prize in the History and Philosophy of Science
  • Synopsis available in the 100th Issue of the CSHPS Communiqué 
• Bolinska, A. (2018). 'Synthetic versus analytic approaches to protein and DNA structure determination', Biology and Philosophy 33: 26.
• Bolinska, A. (2016). 'Successful visual epistemic representation', Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 56: 153–160.
• Bolinska, A. (2013). 'Epistemic representation, informativeness and the aim of faithful representation', Synthese 190: 219–34.