The present volume is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Azarya Polikarov (1921-2000), founder of the discipline philosophy of science in Bulgaria. Its aim is to continue and to enrich the already established tradition of paying tribute to this eminent scholar. The papers included in the volume are inscribed into the tematic fileds of Polikarov's main research and contributions: philosophy of sciences, history and methodology of sientific theories, and the complex relationship between philosophy and science on the one hand, and between science and religion on the other. Contributors to this collection are former students of Polikarov, colleagues from the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, as well as scholars from abroad.