UID:
almahu_9949468838902882
Format:
XIII, 155 p. 2 illus.
,
online resource.
Edition:
1st ed. 2023.
ISBN:
9783031212543
Series Statement:
The Frontiers Collection,
Content:
This book deals with the rise of mathematics in physical sciences, beginning with Galileo and Newton and extending to the present day. The book is divided into two parts. The first part gives a brief history of how mathematics was introduced into physics-despite its "unreasonable effectiveness" as famously pointed out by a distinguished physicist-and the criticisms it received from earlier thinkers. The second part takes a more philosophical approach and is intended to shed some light on that mysterious effectiveness. For this purpose, the author reviews the debate between classical philosophers on the existence of innate ideas that allow us to understand the world and also the philosophically based arguments for and against the use of mathematics in physical sciences. In this context, Schopenhauer's conceptions of causality and matter are very pertinent, and their validity is revisited in light of modern physics. The final question addressed is whether the effectiveness of mathematics can be explained by its "existence" in an independent platonic realm, as Gödel believed. The book aims at readers interested in the history and philosophy of physics. It is accessible to those with only a very basic (not professional) knowledge of physics.
Note:
Introduction -- 1.Classical Period -- 2.Enlightenment -- 3.Electricity and Magnetism -- 4.Modern Physics: Relativity -- 5.Modern Physics: Quantum Mechanics -- 6.Quantum paradoxes -- 7.Quantum Mechanics and Relativity -- 8.Other (Mathematical) Worlds -- 9.Cosmology -- 10.For Mathematics -- 11.Against Mathematics -- 12.Programs of the Mind -- 13.Geometry a priori -- 14.Causality, Sufficient Reason and Determinism -- 15.Matter and Causality -- 16.Mathematics and Reality -- 17.Conclusions: Pythagoras'Dream. .
In:
Springer Nature eBook
Additional Edition:
Printed edition: ISBN 9783031212536
Additional Edition:
Printed edition: ISBN 9783031212550
Additional Edition:
Printed edition: ISBN 9783031212567
Language:
English
DOI:
10.1007/978-3-031-21254-3
URL:
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21254-3
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