Models in theory building: the case of early string theory

The history of the origins and first steps of string theory, from Veneziano's formulation of his famous scattering amplitude in 1968 to the 'first string revolution' in 1984, provides rich material for discussing traditional issues in the philosophy of science. This paper focusses on the initial phase of this history, that is the making of early string theory out of the 'dual theory of strong interactions' motivated by the aim of finding a viable theory of hadrons in the framework of the so-called S-matrix theory of the Sixties: from the first two models proposed (the Dual Resonance Model and the Shapiro-Virasoro Model) to all the subsequent endeavours to extend and complete the theory, including its string interpretation. As is the aim of this paper to show, by representing an exemplary illustration of the building of a scientific theory out of tentative and partial models this is a particularly fruitful case study for the current philosophical discussion on how to characterize a scientific model, a scientific theory, and the relation between models and theories.