UID:
almafu_9960119344902883
Format:
1 online resource (xix, 424 pages) :
,
digital, PDF file(s).
ISBN:
1-139-17110-0
Content:
This book examines a selection of philosophical issues in the context of specific episodes in the development of physical theories. Advances in science are presented against the historical and philosophical backgrounds in which they occurred. A major aim is to impress upon the reader the essential role that philosophical considerations have played in the actual practice of science. The book begins with some necessary introduction to the history of ancient and early modern science, with major emphasis being given to the two great watersheds of twentieth-century physics: relativity and, especially, quantum mechanics. At times the term 'construction' may seem more appropriate than 'discovery' for the way theories have developed and, especially in the later chapters, the question of the influence of historical, philosophical and even social factors on the very form and content of scientific theories is discussed.
Note:
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).
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Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- Copyright acknowledgments -- The scientific enterprise -- 1 Ways of knowing -- 1.1 Philosophy -- 1.2 Logical deduction -- 1.3 Self-evident first principles -- 1.4 Rationalists versus empiricists -- 1.5 The status of scientific knowledge -- 1.A Descartes' Regulae -- Further reading -- Aristotle and Francis Bacon -- 2.1 Aristotle -- 2.2 Observation versus experimentation -- 2.3 The universe as organism -- 2.4 Aristotle on motion -- 2.5 Francis Bacon -- 2.6 The New Organon -- 2.7 Bacon and Aristotle compared -- 2.A Aristotle's On the Heavens and Physics on motion -- Further reading -- Science and metaphysics -- 3.1 Origins of scientific method -- 3.2 A popular view of science -- 3.3 Hume and Mill on induction -- 3.4 Popper on observation and hypothesis -- 3.5 Justification for hypotheses -- 3.6 Scientific knowledge and truth -- 3.A Hume, Mill and Popper on scientific knowledge -- Further reading -- Ancient and modern models of the universe -- Observational astronomy and the Ptolemaic model -- 4.1 Elementary observations -- 4.2 The celestial sphere -- 4.3 Eratosthenes' determination of the earth's size -- 4.4 Aristarchus' heliocentric model of the universe -- 4.5 The planets -- 4.6 Ptolemy's geocentric model of the universe -- 4.7 To save the phenomena -- 4.A Determination of the absolute sizes of planetary orbits -- Further reading -- The Copernican model and Kepler's laws -- 5.1 Copernicus and his heliocentric model -- 5.2 Advantages of the Copernican theory -- 5.3 Shortcomings of the Copernican theory -- 5.4 Kepler's laws -- 5.A Conic sections -- Further reading -- Galileo on motion -- 6.1 The impetus theory -- 6.2 Galileo's naturally accelerated motion -- 6.3 Projectile motion -- 6.4 Inertia -- 6.5 Galileo on Aristotle.
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6.A Galileo's Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences -- Further reading -- The Newtonian universe -- Newton's Principia -- 7.1 Isaac Newton -- 7.2 Newton's philosophy of science -- 7.3 Outline of Newton's argument in the Principia -- 7.4 Newton's three laws of motion -- 7.5 The logical structure of classical mechanics -- Further reading -- Newton's law of universal gravitation -- 8.1 Newton's astronomical data and deductions -- 8.2 An inverse-square law -- 8.3 The moon's centripetal acceleration -- 8.4 The law of gravitation for point masses -- 8.5 Gravitation for extended bodies -- 8.6 Inertial and gravitational masses -- Further reading -- Some old questions revisited -- 9.1 An illustration of Newton's geometrical proofs -- 9.2 Kepler's first and third laws -- 9.3 Perturbations -- 9.4 The ocean tides prior to Newton -- 9.5 The earth-moon system and tidal bulges -- 9.A Newton and Young on wave interference -- Further reading -- A perspective -- Galileo's Letter to the Grand Duchess -- 10.1 The background -- 10.2 A basic issue -- 10.3 The Letter to the Grand Duchess -- 10.4 Galileo and Urban VIII -- 10.5 Religion vis-à-vis natural philosophy -- 10.A Galileo's Letter to the Grand Duchess -- Further reading -- An overarching Newtonian framework -- 11.1 A revolution -- 11.2 A broad coherence -- 11.3 Views on space prior to Newton -- 11.4 Newton's absolute space -- 11.5 Physical versus mathematical spaces -- Further reading -- A view of the world based on science: determinism -- 12.1 The belief in simple laws -- 12.2 The meaning of determinism -- 12.3 Why the clockwork universe? -- 12.4 An unwarranted optimism -- 12.5 Two maps as examples -- Further reading -- Mechanical versus electrodynamical world views -- Models of the aether -- 13.1 Emergence of the optical aether -- 13.2 The elastic solid aether -- 13.3 The electromagnetic aether.
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13.4 Thomson's and Maxwell's models -- 13.5 Maxwell's arguments for the aether -- 13.A Maxwell on the aether versus action at a distance -- Further reading -- Maxwell's theory -- 14.1 Maxwell's equations -- 14.2 The displacement current -- 14.3 The final classical theory -- 14.4 The Michelson-Morley experiment -- 14.5 Precursors to relativity -- 14.A Maxwell's equations in mathematical form -- Further reading -- The Kaufmann experiments -- 15.1 Rival theories of electromagnetic mass -- 15.2 Kaufmann's experiments -- 15.3 Planck's analysis of Kaufmann's work -- 15.4 Subsequent determinations of elm 0 -- 15.5 Conclusions -- 15.A Some technical details -- Further reading -- The theory of relativity -- The background to and essentials of special relativity -- 16.1 Albert Einstein -- 16.2 Einstein's skepticism about classical physics -- 16.3 The postulates -- 16.4 Time dilation and length contraction -- 16.5 The Lorentz transformations -- 16.A A technical detail on Einstein's Gedankenexperiment -- Further reading -- Further logical consequences of Einstein's postulates -- 17.1 Relativistic Doppler effect -- 17.2 Mass-energy equivalence -- 17.3 The twin paradox -- 17.4 Simultaneity and coexistence -- 17.A Some calculational details -- Further reading -- General relativity and the expanding universe -- 18.1 The basic principles -- 18.2 Experimental tests -- 18.3 The stability of the classical universe -- 18.4 The Einstein and Friedmann universes -- 18.5 Hubble's law -- 18.6 A modern model of our universe -- 18.A A derivation of Hubble's law -- Further reading -- The quantum world and the completeness of quantum mechanics -- The road to quantum mechanics -- 19.1 Some historical background -- 19.2 Planck's hypothesis -- 19.3 Bohr's semiclassical model -- 19.4 Actual discoveries versus rational reconstructions -- 19.5 Two routes to quantum mechanics.
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19.6 Forging the Copenhagen interpretation -- Further reading -- Copenhagen quantum mechanics -- 20.1 Some simple quantum-mechanical systems -- 20.2 Interpretations of the wave function -- 20.3 A fundamental distinction between large and small -- 20.4 The uncertainty relation -- 20.5 Photon interference - the double slit -- Further reading -- Is quantum mechanics complete? -- 21.1 The completeness of quantum mechanics -- 21.2 The Bohr-Einstein confrontations -- 21.3 The measurement problem -- 21.4 Schrödinger's cat paradox -- 21.5 Dirac on the effect of measurement -- Further reading -- Some philosophical lessons from quantum mechanics -- The EPR paper and Bell's theorem -- 22.1 The EPR paradox -- 22.2 An analysis of the EPR paper -- 22.3 Bell's theorem -- 22.4 A derivation of Bell's theorem -- 22.A A calculation of the EPRB correlations -- Further reading -- An alternative version of quantum mechanics -- 23.1 An overview -- 23.2 The Copenhagen interpretation -- 23.3 A logically possible, empirically viable alternative -- 23.4 The value of an alternative interpretation -- 23.5 Explanation versus understanding -- 23.6 Attempts at understanding quantum mechanics -- 23.A Some mathematical details of Bohm's theory -- Further reading -- An essential role for historical contingency? -- 24.1 Underdetermination -- 24.2 A dilemma for the realist -- 24.3 An alternative historical scenario? -- 24.4 Internal versus external explanations -- Further reading -- A retrospective -- The goals of science and the status of its knowledge -- 25.1 Einstein on science and its goals -- 25.2 A reductionist program -- 25.3 Styles of scientific inference -- 25.4 A paradox of confirmation -- 25.5 The paradigm model of science -- 25.6 An eclectic description of science -- 25.7 One modern world view based on science -- Further reading -- Notes -- General references -- Bibliography.
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Author index -- Subject index.
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English
Additional Edition:
ISBN 0-521-57823-X
Additional Edition:
ISBN 0-521-57071-9
Language:
English
URL:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139171106
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