A feeling for patterns in rivers: understanding and reductionistic explanation in earth science.

Earth science seeks to understand phenomena and their history on Earth. Using examples of fluvial research, I will first show that earth scientists gain understanding from unification and reduction approaches. The former includes classical geologic reconstruction of past conditions on (a part of) Earth. The latter includes physical or chemical explanation, often in the form of numerical models. Furthermore, reductionistic explanations are used as a partial basis of unified explanations. I will then argue that in both approaches understanding is obtained if a theory is intelligible sensu De Regt and Dieks and if theoretical skills are integrated with performative skills sensu Leonelli, despite the large differences between the required skills.