“Relatively unknown? Really?!
Your declaration strains credulity.
Sir Karl Popper (1902 – 1994), an implacable critic of totalitarianism, is one of the greatest philosophers of science of the 20th century, and also a social and political philosopher of considerable stature. He was a famed and dedicated opponent of all forms of scepticism, conventionalism, and relativism in science and in human affairs generally, and unprecedented in the scope of his intellectual influence among both Scientists and Philosophers.
You can find words to this effect (and many more) in any reputable encyclopedia of philosophy (such as The Oxford Companion to Philosophy ).
“I think the reasoning behind elevating his importance must go something like this:”
I think you need to regear your thinking.
Thank you for sharing all your insights, dear YHAOS!
“Relatively unknown? Really?!
Absolutely, Karl Popper is almost unknown among scientists. I do not recall ever hearing his name before, either during the several years I spent in college getting my PhD, or in any of the thousands of research/review articles I have read. In post #515, I explained how I checked my textbooks and the largest, oldest, most complete, and up to date scientific database in existence, and found very little mention of him.
I honestly do not expect the majority of scientists to be aware of the work of even major philosophers, even if those philosophers tried to phrase scientific methodology in the existentialist mumbo-jumbo language of philosophy. Philosophy (the discipline) is almost the antithesis of what science is all about: a very lot of thought exercises, which have no evidentiary basis whatsoever. I have no use for it.