The Scientist as Philosopher: Philosophical Consequences of Great Scientific Discoveries

Friedel Weinert

Springer, Jan 12, 2005 - Mathematics - 342 pages

How do major scientific discoveries reshape their originators’, and our own, sense of reality and concept of the physical world? The Scientist as Philosopher explores the interaction between physics and philosophy. Clearly written and well illustrated, the book first places the scientist-philosophers in the limelight as we learn how their great scientific discoveries forced them to reconsider the time-honored notions with which science had described the natural world. Then, the book explains that what we understand by nature and science have undergone fundamental conceptual changes as a result of the discoveries of electromagnetism, thermodynamics and atomic structure. Even more dramatically, the quantum theory and special theory of relativity questioned traditional assumptions about causation and the passage of time. The author concludes that the dance between science and philosophy is an evolutionary process, which will keep them forever entwined.

Contents

• The Concept of Nature: 9
• 22 From the Organismic to the Mechanistic Universe: 10
• 23 From Natures to Nature: 13
• 232 Corpuscular Philosophy: 20
• 24 The Emergence of Nature as an Interrelated System: 22
• 241 Immanuel Kant: 24
• 242 Alexander von Humboldt: 27
• 25 The End of Philosophical Speculations About Nature as a System: 29
• 251 Charles Darwin: 30
• 252 The Discovery of Atomic Structure: 32
• 253 Thermodynamics: 33
• Interlude A: 36
• 254 Physical Fields: 42
• Interlude B: 45
• 26 Fields Structure Laws and the Decline of the Mechanical Worldview: 47
• 261 FourDimensional Reality: 50
• 262 Metaphysical Aspects of Relativity: 52
• The WaveParticle Duality: 56
• Interlude C: 61
• 28 Invariance and Reality: 62
• Physical Understanding: 75
• 32 Models: 84
• 33 Einsteins Problem Bohrs Challenge and the Feedback Thesis: 94
• The Scientist Philosopher: 103
• The Block Universe: 105
• 411 Models of Time: 106
• 412 Natural and Conventional Units of Time: 108
• 413 Galileos Physical Time: 110
• 414 Newtons Absolute and Universal Time: 112
• 415 The Relational View of Time: 117
• 42 The Special Theory of Relativity and the Idea of the Block Universe: 120
• 422 The Special Theory of Relativity and Models of Time: 125
• Einstein and the Idea of the Block Universe: 128
• Idealism and Determinism New Models of Physical Understanding: 138
• 43 Idealist Views of Time: 147
• 432 Immanuel Kant: 151
• On the Passage of Time: 155
• 44 Minkowski SpaceTime: 160
• The Philosophy of Being: 171
• The Philosophy of Becoming: 181
• 443 The Emergence of Time: 188
• Causation and Determinism: 193
• 512 Laplaces Grip on the Classical World: 195
• 513 The Functional Model of Causation: 202
• 514 Keeping Causation and Determinism Apart Classical Style: 208
• 52 New Discoveries New Ideas: 212
• 522 Radioactive Decay: 216
• 523 Spontaneous Emissions: 217
• 524 Awakening Doubts and the RutherfordBohr Model of the Atom: 219
• 53 Scientists Draw Philosophical Consequences: 221
• 531 Conservative Response: 224
• 532 The Radical Response: 230
• Interlude D: 238
• 533 Philosophical Response: 248
• 534 Some Causal Stories in Quantum Mechanics: 252
• The Particle Picture: 253
• The Wave Picture: 256
• 535 The Conditional Model of Causation: 259
• 536 Causal Explanations: 267
• Interlude E The Programme of Decoherence: 272
• 537 Causation Without Determinism: 275
• Conclusion: 277
• Bibliography: 283
• List of Figure Sources: 319
• Name Index: 321
• Subject Index: 325

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Scientist as Philosopher: Philosophical Consequences of Great Scientific Discoveries
• Author: Friedel Weinert
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Springer, 2005
• ISBN: 3540213740, 9783540213741
• Length: 342 pages
• Subjects: Mathematics / General; Philosophy / General; Science / General; Science / Physics / General