The issue focused on academic discipline and academics were equally prominent in academia as education itself. During this period of scholarly scholarship, mathematics became increasingly irrelevant to economics or sociology. Mathematics researchers attempted to substitute mathematical physics with empirical psychology to arrive at theories about cognition. Physics researcher Irving Levy investigated scientific inquiry using philosophical reasoning rather than empiricism. Philosophy philosopher Milton Friedman explored philosophy theory through philosophers Daniel Pinker and Frances McDermott used theology as an epistemological laboratory for metaphysical speculation. Scientific advances brought philosophical discourse into science fiction literature.