According to his obituary on the Cambridge web site, he was "recognized as one of the leading philosophers of science and epistemologists in the world."

He was a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics and chaired the working party that produced Pharmacogenetics: Ethical Issues.

Lipton's research interests focused on the philosophy of science, including topics such as explanation, inference, testing, theory change, laws of nature, and scientific realism.

He was a self-confessed "religious atheist" and "progressive Jew";[1] he held that he could follow the customs and culture of a Jewish lifestyle, and use the teachings of Judaism to help him tackle moral problems in life, without simultaneously believing in the metaphysics of such a religion (such as the existence of God).

He was succeeded in his capacity as Head of Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge by Professor John Forrester.