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Quantum theory launched a revolution in physics. But we have yet to understand the revolution's significance for philosophy. Richard Healey opens a path to such understanding. The first part of this book offers a self-contained but opinionated introduction to quantum theory. The second part assesses the theory's philosophical significance.
Quantum theory --- Physics --- Philosophy --- Philosophy. --- Quantum theory - Philosophy --- Physics - Philosophy
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Provability, Computability and Reflection
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This book offers a history of the instrumentation used to materialize the early thought experiments devised in the Einstein-Bohr disputes over the foundations of quantum mechanics. It shows how the second world war and cold war fostered the development of materials, instruments, and systems that made it possible to create, manipulate, and detect single quantum systems, thus creating the material conditions for experiments in foundations of quantum mechanics and for a broad spectrum of experimental inquiries on the structure and properties of matter which underlay the creation of new research fields such as quantum optics, quantum information, and atomic, molecular, and optical physics. Discussing research and development performed in diverse contexts, this book reveals how physicists carried instruments, and the knowledge they embodied, through disciplinary and geographic frontiers to probe entanglement, a most intriguing feature of the quantum world.
Pure sciences. Natural sciences (general) --- wetenschapsgeschiedenis --- Science—History. --- Physics—Philosophy. --- History of Science. --- Philosophy of Physics. --- Physics --- Science
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The concept of mass is one of the most fundamental notions in physics, comparable in importance only to those of space and time. But in contrast to the latter, which are the subject of innumerable physical and philosophical studies, the concept of mass has been but rarely investigated. Here Max Jammer, a leading philosopher and historian of physics, provides a concise but comprehensive, coherent, and self-contained study of the concept of mass as it is defined, interpreted, and applied in contemporary physics and as it is critically examined in the modern philosophy of science. With its focus on theories proposed after the mid-1950s, the book is the first of its kind, covering the most recent experimental and theoretical investigations into the nature of mass and its role in modern physics, from the realm of elementary particles to the cosmology of galaxies. The book begins with an analysis of the persistent difficulties of defining inertial mass in a noncircular manner and discusses the related question of whether mass is an observational or a theoretical concept. It then studies the notion of mass in special relativity and the delicate problem of whether the relativistic rest mass is the only legitimate notion of mass and whether it is identical with the classical (Newtonian) mass. This is followed by a critical analysis of the different derivations of the famous mass-energy relationship E = mc2 and its conflicting interpretations. Jammer then devotes a chapter to the distinction between inertial and gravitational mass and to the various versions of the so-called equivalence principle with which Newton initiated his Principia but which also became the starting point of Einstein's general relativity, which supersedes Newtonian physics. The book concludes with a presentation of recently proposed global and local dynamical theories of the origin and nature of mass. Destined to become a much-consulted reference for philosophers and physicists, this book is also written for the nonprofessional general reader interested in the foundations of physics.
Gravitational mass --- Inertial mass --- Mass (Physics) --- Physics --- Philosophy. --- Force and energy --- Gravitation --- Inertia (Mechanics) --- Matter --- Mechanics --- Moments of inertia --- Weight (Physics) --- Properties --- Philosophy --- Physique --- Philosophie --- Physics - Philosophy
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"Indispensable introductory survey of Brazilian history, 1500-1998. Pre-1930 history is treated as background. Second half is an outstanding narrative of politics and economic policy from 1930-present. Accessible to students and general readers. Particularly interesting are the book's final chapters, which seem to be addressed more to the conscience of the Brazilian ruling class than to foreign readers. Includes bibliographical essay, but one much less dense than typically found in Oxford Univ. Press one-volume histories of Latin American nations"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.
Time. --- Physics --- Temps --- Physique --- Philosophy. --- Philosophie --- Time --- Hours (Time) --- Philosophy --- Philosophy of nature --- Philosophy of science --- History of physics --- Brazil --- History. --- Geodetic astronomy --- Nautical astronomy --- Horology --- Physics - Philosophy
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And an introduction to their physics.
Physics -- History. --- Physics -- Philosophy. --- Quantum theory -- Miscellanea. --- Quantum theory -- Popular works. --- Science -- History. --- Science -- Philosophy. --- Atomic Physics --- Physics --- Physical Sciences & Mathematics
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The common cause principle says that every correlation is either due to a direct causal effect linking the correlated entities or is brought about by a third factor, a so-called common cause. The principle is of central importance in the philosophy of science, especially in causal explanation, causal modeling and in the foundations of quantum physics. Written for philosophers of science, physicists and statisticians, this book contributes to the debate over the validity of the common cause principle, by proving results that bring to the surface the nature of explanation by common causes. It provides a technical and mathematically rigorous examination of the notion of common cause, providing an analysis not only in terms of classical probability measure spaces, which is typical in the available literature, but in quantum probability theory as well. The authors provide numerous open problems to further the debate and encourage future research in this field.
Causation --- Science --- Physics --- Philosophy --- Causation. --- Normal science --- Philosophy of science --- Causality --- Cause and effect --- Effect and cause --- Final cause --- Beginning --- God --- Metaphysics --- Necessity (Philosophy) --- Teleology --- Philosophy. --- General and Others --- Science - Philosophy --- Physics - Philosophy
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Nature is not only stable and static but also unstable and dynamical ? this has been shown by physics during the last 40 years. Today, instabilities are regarded as productive and creative sources of change, pattern formation, and growth. They constitute the nomological nucleus of self-organization, chaos and complexity, time's arrow and chance. This change in understanding nature has also modified sciences. Physics has traditionally limited its scope to stability. Currently, it is expanding and renewing itself: a late-modern physics is emerging, and discloses rich interdisciplinary perspectiv
Nonlinear theories. --- Physics --- Stability. --- Dynamics --- Mechanics --- Motion --- Vibration --- Benjamin-Feir instability --- Equilibrium --- Nonlinear problems --- Nonlinearity (Mathematics) --- Calculus --- Mathematical analysis --- Mathematical physics --- Philosophy. --- Physics - Philosophy. --- Physics - History. --- Instability. --- complexity. --- philosophy. --- physics. --- self-organization. --- Instabilität. --- Naturphilosophie. --- Naturverständnis. --- Philosophie. --- Physik. --- Wissenschaftsentwicklung. --- History.
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This book offers the first systematic review of the structuralism of physical theories. Particular emphasis is placed on the inclusion of empirical imprecision into formal reconstructions of theories. The proposed measure of imprecision allows for a topological comparison of theories. Considering the ongoing debates on the nature of the thermodynamic limit in statistical mechanics, as well as on limit relations between classical and quantum mechanics, the author asserts that the Bourbaki-style structuralism, together with E. Scheibe's theory of reduction, is the best choice for reconstructing and analyzing the related questions of reduction and emergence. Readers will appreciate the critical overview of the main positions in philosophy of science, examined with particular attention to their applicability to current problems of fundamental theories of physics.
Physics—Philosophy. --- Science—Philosophy. --- Mathematical physics. --- Philosophical Foundations of Physics and Astronomy. --- Philosophy of Science. --- Theoretical, Mathematical and Computational Physics. --- Physical mathematics --- Physics --- Mathematics --- Structuralism. --- Philosophy. --- Scheibe, Erhard. --- Structure (Philosophy) --- Philosophy --- Whole and parts (Philosophy) --- Form (Philosophy) --- Poststructuralism
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Karl R. Popper is widely regarded as one of the most influential 20th century philosophers. In this new biography, Weinert provides a comprehensive and accessible account of his life and work, also addressing Popper’s role as a public intellectual. Drawing on a wide range of sources and interviews with former colleagues and collaborators, he recounts not only the wide interest from the scientific community, but also the inspiration that politicians took from Popper’s work. The book surveys the vast and varied intellectual landscape of Popper's philosophical journey during his long career: from the natural and social sciences (physics, evolution, sociology to political philosophy and the philosophy of mind. It pays significant attention to Popper’s critical method - i.e., the notion that ideas and institutions should be exposed to rigorous tests – the approach that led him to a fervent defence of objectivity, rationality and realism, against all forms of irrationalism, as well as a passionate advocacy of freedom, social justice and liberal democracy, against all forms of authoritarianism. The book brings Popper into focus as a modern Enlightenment philosopher.
Political philosophy. Social philosophy --- Philosophy of science --- Sociology --- Politics --- sociologie --- politiek --- politieke filosofie --- wetenschapsfilosofie --- Science—Philosophy. --- Political science. --- Sociology—Methodology. --- Physics—Philosophy. --- Political science—Philosophy. --- Philosophy of Science. --- Political Science. --- Sociological Methods. --- Philosophical Foundations of Physics and Astronomy. --- Political Philosophy.
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