Absolute or relative motion ? : a study from a Machian point of view of the discovery and the structure of dynamical theories

Absolute or relative motion ? : a study from a Machian point of view of the discovery and the structure of dynamical theories PDF Author: Julian B. Barbour
Publisher: CUP Archive
ISBN: 9780521324670
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 784

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Absolute or relative motion ? : a study from a Machian point of view of the discovery and the structure of dynamical theories

Absolute or relative motion ? : a study from a Machian point of view of the discovery and the structure of dynamical theories PDF Author: Julian B. Barbour
Publisher: CUP Archive
ISBN: 9780521324670
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 784

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Book Description


The Discovery of Dynamics

The Discovery of Dynamics PDF Author: Julian B. Barbour
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195132025
Category : Astronomy
Languages : en
Pages : 775

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Book Description
"Originally published as Absolute or relative motion? volume 1, The discovery of dynamics, Cambridge University Press, 1989".

Interpreting Newton

Interpreting Newton PDF Author: Andrew Janiak
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107376769
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 451

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Book Description
This collection of specially commissioned essays by leading scholars presents research on Isaac Newton and his main philosophical interlocutors and critics. The essays analyze Newton's relation to his contemporaries, especially Barrow, Descartes, Leibniz and Locke and discuss the ways in which a broad range of figures, including Hume, Maclaurin, Maupertuis and Kant, reacted to his thought. The wide range of topics discussed includes the laws of nature, the notion of force, the relation of mathematics to nature, Newton's argument for universal gravitation, his attitude toward philosophical empiricism, his use of 'fluxions', his approach toward measurement problems and his concept of absolute motion, together with new interpretations of Newton's matter theory. The volume concludes with an extended essay that analyzes the changes in physics wrought by Newton's Principia. A substantial introduction and bibliography provide essential reference guides.

Huygens: The Man Behind the Principle

Huygens: The Man Behind the Principle PDF Author: C. D. Andriesse
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521850902
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 492

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Book Description
Huygens: The Man Behind the Principle is the story of the great seventeenth-century Dutch mathematician and physicist, Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695). As the first complete biography ever written this book describes in detail how Huygens arrived at discoveries and inventions that are often wrongly ascribed to Newton. Huygens played a key role in the 'scientific revolution', and the Huygens Principle on the wave theory of light helped establish his reputation. The discovery of Saturn's rings and the invention of the pendulum clock made him so famous that he was invited to be the first director of the French Academy of Science, but his life as director teetered on the edge of powerlessness. Despite Huygens' many achievements no complete biography has previously been published in English. This book gives scientists and historians the opportunity to learn more about all aspects of Huygens' life while bringing his story to a wider audience.

“The main Business of natural Philosophy”

“The main Business of natural Philosophy” PDF Author: Steffen Ducheyne
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400721269
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
In this monograph, Steffen Ducheyne provides a historically detailed and systematically rich explication of Newton’s methodology. Throughout the pages of this book, it will be shown that Newton developed a complex natural-philosophical methodology which encompasses procedures to minimize inductive risk during the process of theory formation and which, thereby, surpasses a standard hypothetico-deductive methodological setting. Accordingly, it will be highlighted that the so-called ‘Newtonian Revolution’ was not restricted to the empirical and theoretical dimensions of science, but applied equally to the methodological dimension of science. Furthermore, it will be documented that Newton’s methodology was far from static and that it developed alongside with his scientific work. Attention will be paid not only to the successes of Newton’s innovative methodology, but equally to its tensions and limitations. Based on a thorough study of Newton’s extant manuscripts, this monograph will address and contextualize, inter alia, Newton’s causal realism, his views on action at a distance and space and time, the status of efficient causation in the /Principia/, the different phases of his methodology, his treatment of force and the constituents of the physico-mathematical models in the context of Book I of the /Principia/, the analytic part of the argument for universal gravitation, the meaning and significance of his regulae philosophandi, the methodological differences between his mechanical and optical work, and, finally, the interplay between Newton’s theology and his natural philosophy.

Proof Theory

Proof Theory PDF Author: Vincent F. Hendricks
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401727961
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
hiS volume in the Synthese Library Series is the result of a conference T held at the University of Roskilde, Denmark, October 31st-November 1st, 1997. The aim was to provide a forum within which philosophers, math ematicians, logicians and historians of mathematics could exchange ideas pertaining to the historical and philosophical development of proof theory. Hence the conference was called Proof Theory: History and Philosophical Significance. To quote from the conference abstract: Proof theory was developed as part of Hilberts Programme. According to Hilberts Programme one could provide mathematics with a firm and se cure foundation by formalizing all of mathematics and subsequently prove consistency of these formal systems by finitistic means. Hence proof theory was developed as a formal tool through which this goal should be fulfilled. It is well known that Hilbert's Programme in its original form was unfeasible mainly due to Gtldel's incompleteness theorems. Additionally it proved impossible to formalize all of mathematics and impossible to even prove the consistency of relatively simple formalized fragments of mathematics by finitistic methods. In spite of these problems, Gentzen showed that by extending Hilbert's proof theory it would be possible to prove the consistency of interesting formal systems, perhaps not by finitis tic methods but still by methods of minimal strength. This generalization of Hilbert's original programme has fueled modern proof theory which is a rich part of mathematical logic with many significant implications for the philosophy of mathematics.

The Discovery of Dynamics

The Discovery of Dynamics PDF Author: Julian B. Barbour
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780195351101
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 778

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Book Description
Ever since Newton created dynamics, there has been controversy about its foundations. Are space and time absolute? Do they form a rigid but invisible framework and container of the universe? Or are space, time, and motion relative? If so, does Newton's 'framework' arise through the influence of the universe at large, as Ernst Mach suggested? Einstein's aim when creating his general theory of relativity was to demonstrate this and thereby implement 'Mach's Principle'. However, it is widely believed that he achieved only partial success. This question of whether motion is absolute or relative has been a central issues in philosophy; the nature of time has perennial interest. Current attempts to create a quantum description of the whole universe keep these issues at the cutting edge of modern research. Written by the world's leading expert on Mach's Principle, The Discovery of Dynamics is a highly original account of the development of notions about space, time, and motion. Widely praised in its hardback version, it is one of the fullest and most readable accounts of the astronomical studies that culminated in Kepler's laws of planetary motion and of the creation of dynamics by Galileo, Descartes, Huygens, and Newton. Originally published as Absolute or Relative Motion?, Vol. 1: The Discovery of Dynamics (Cambridge), The Discovery of Dynamics provides the technical background to Barbour's recently published The End of Time, in which he argues that time disappears from the description of the quantum universe.

Interpreting Mach

Interpreting Mach PDF Author: John Preston
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108474012
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
A collection of new essays on Ernst Mach's scientific and philosophical thought by leading Mach scholars.

Isaac Newton's Natural Philosophy

Isaac Newton's Natural Philosophy PDF Author: Jed Z. Buchwald
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262524254
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
Shedding new light on the intellectual context of Newton's scientific thought, this book explores the development of his mathematical philosophy, rational mechanics, and celestial dynamics. An appendix includes the last paper written by Newton biographer Richard S. Westfall.

The Foundations of Newtonian Scholarship

The Foundations of Newtonian Scholarship PDF Author: Richard Henry Dalitz
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9810239203
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
"Historians of science, teachers and students of the history and philosophy of science and mathematics will be astounded at the difference a few decades of research has made in the assessment of Newton's work. Most heartily recommended to all who seek authoritative and readable glimpses of Newton at work".Choice, 2001