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Author: Christoph Lehner
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0817649409
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 360
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Book Description
This volume reviews conceptual conflicts at the foundations of physics now and in the past century. The focus is on the conditions and consequences of Einstein’s pathbreaking achievements that sealed the decline of the classical notions of space, time, radiation, and matter, and resulted in the theory of relativity. Particular attention is paid to the implications of conceptual conflicts for scientific views of the world at large, thus providing the basis for a comparison of the demise of the mechanical worldview at the turn of the 20th century with the challenges presented by cosmology at the turn of the 21st century. Throughout the work, Einstein’s contributions are not seen in isolation but instead set into the wider intellectual context of dealing with the problem of gravitation in the twilight of classical physics; the investigation of the historical development is carried out with a number of epistemological questions in mind, concerning, in particular, the transformation process of knowledge associated with the changing worldviews of physics.
Author: Christoph Lehner
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0817649409
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 360
Get Book Here
Book Description
This volume reviews conceptual conflicts at the foundations of physics now and in the past century. The focus is on the conditions and consequences of Einstein’s pathbreaking achievements that sealed the decline of the classical notions of space, time, radiation, and matter, and resulted in the theory of relativity. Particular attention is paid to the implications of conceptual conflicts for scientific views of the world at large, thus providing the basis for a comparison of the demise of the mechanical worldview at the turn of the 20th century with the challenges presented by cosmology at the turn of the 21st century. Throughout the work, Einstein’s contributions are not seen in isolation but instead set into the wider intellectual context of dealing with the problem of gravitation in the twilight of classical physics; the investigation of the historical development is carried out with a number of epistemological questions in mind, concerning, in particular, the transformation process of knowledge associated with the changing worldviews of physics.
Author: Christian Forstner
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030485099
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 316
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Book Description
This book sheds new light on the biographical approach in the history of physics by including the biographies of scientific objects, institutions, and concepts. What is a biography? Can biographies also be written for non-human subjects like scientific instruments, institutions or concepts? The respective chapters of this book discuss these controversial questions using examples from the history of physics. By approaching biography as metaphor, it transcends the boundaries between various perspectives on the history of physics, and enriches our grasp of the past.
Author: Magdalena Kersting
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000374106
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 451
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Book Description
In our world today, scientists and technologists speak one language of reality. Everyone else, whether they be prime ministers, lawyers, or primary school teachers speak an outdated Newtonian language of reality. While Newton saw time and space as rigid and absolute, Einstein showed that time is relative – it depends on height and velocity – and that space can stretch and distort. The modern Einsteinian perspective represents a significant paradigm shift compared with the Newtonian paradigm that underpins most of the school education today. Research has shown that young learners quickly access and accept Einsteinian concepts and the modern language of reality. Students enjoy learning about curved space, photons, gravitational waves, and time dilation; often, they ask for more! A consistent education within the Einsteinian paradigm requires rethinking of science education across the entire school curriculum, and this is now attracting attention around the world. This book brings together a coherent set of chapters written by leading experts in the field of Einsteinian physics education. The book begins by exploring the fundamental concepts of space, time, light, and gravity and how teachers can introduce these topics at an early age. A radical change in the curriculum requires new learning instruments and innovative instructional approaches. Throughout the book, the authors emphasise and discuss evidence-based approaches to Einsteinian concepts, including computer- based tools, geometrical methods, models and analogies, and simplified mathematical treatments. Teaching Einsteinian Physics in Schools is designed as a resource for teacher education students, primary and secondary science teachers, and for anyone interested in a scientifically accurate description of physical reality at a level appropriate for school education.
Author: Lewis Pyenson
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004325735
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 666
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Book Description
In The Shock of Recognition, Lewis Pyenson uses a method called Historical Complementarity to identify the motif of non-figurative abstraction in modern art and science. He identifies the motif in Picasso’s and Einstein’s educational environments. He shows how this motif in domestic furnishing and in urban lighting set the stage for Picasso’s and Einstein’s professional success before 1914. He applies his method to intellectual life in Argentina, using it to address that nation’s focus on an inventory of the natural world until the 1940s, its adoption of non-figurative art and nuclear physics in the middle of the twentieth century, and attention to landscape painting and the wonder of nature at the end of the century.
Author: John Preston
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108636187
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 301
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Book Description
This volume presents new essays on the work and thought of physicist, psychologist, and philosopher Ernst Mach. Moving away from previous estimations of Mach as a pre-logical positivist, the essays reflect his rehabilitation as a thinker of direct relevance to debates in the contemporary philosophies of natural science, psychology, metaphysics, and mind. Topics covered include Mach's work on acoustical psychophysics and physics; his ideas on analogy and the principle of conservation of energy; the correct interpretation of his scheme of 'elements' and its relationship to his 'historical-critical' method; the relationship of his thought to movements such as American pragmatism, realism, and neutral monism, as well as to contemporary figures such as Friedrich Nietzsche; and the reception and influence of his works in Germany and Austria, particularly by the Vienna Circle.
Author: Jaume Navarro
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192517791
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 263
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Book Description
Ether and Modernity offers a snapshot of the status of an epistemic object, the "ether" (or "aether"), in the early twentieth century. The contributed papers show that the ether was often regarded as one of the objects of modernity, hand in hand with the electron, radioactivity or X-rays, and not simply as the stubborn residue of an old-fashioned, long-discarded science. The prestige and authority of scientists and popularisers like Oliver Lodge and Arthur Eddington in Britain, Phillip Lenard in Germany or Dayton C. Miller in the USA was instrumental in the preservation, defence or even re-emergence of the ether in the 1920s. Moreover, the consolidation of wireless communications and radio broadcasting, indeed a very modern technology, brought the ether into audiences that would otherwise never have heard about such an esoteric entity. The ether also played a pivotal role among some artists in the early twentieth century: the values of modernism found in the complexities and contradictions of modern physics, such as wireless action or wave-particle puzzles, a fertile ground for the development of new artistic languages; in literature as much as in the pictorial and performing arts. Essays on the intellectual foundations of Umberto Boccioni's art, the linguistic techniques of Lodge, and Ernst Mach's considerations on aesthetics and physics witness to the imbricate relationship between the ether and modernism. Last but not least, the ether played a fundamental part in the resurgence of modern spiritualism in the aftermath of the Great War. This book examines the complex array of meanings, strategies and milieus that enabled the ether to remain an active part in scientific and cultural debates well into the 1930s, but not beyond. This portrait may be easily regarded as the swan song of an epistemic object that was soon to fade away as shown by Paul Dirac's unsuccessful attempt to resuscitate some kind of aether in 1951, with which this book finishes.
Author: Ray d'Inverno
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192606573
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 512
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Book Description
There is little doubt that Einstein's theory of relativity captures the imagination. Not only has it radically altered the way we view the universe, but the theory also has a considerable number of surprises in store. This is especially so in the three main topics of current interest that this book reaches, namely: black holes, gravitational waves, and cosmology. The main aim of this textbook is to provide students with a sound mathematical introduction coupled to an understanding of the physical insights needed to explore the subject. Indeed, the book follows Einstein in that it introduces the theory very much from a physical point of view. After introducing the special theory of relativity, the basic field equations of gravitation are derived and discussed carefully as a prelude to first solving them in simple cases and then exploring the three main areas of application. This new edition contains a substantial extension content that considers new and updated developments in the field. Topics include coverage of the advancement of observational cosmology, the detection of gravitational waves from colliding black holes and neutron stars, and advancements in modern cosmology. Einstein's theory of relativity is undoubtedly one of the greatest achievements of the human mind. Yet, in this book, the author makes it possible for students with a wide range of abilities to deal confidently with the subject. Based on both authors' experience teaching the subject this is achieved by breaking down the main arguments into a series of simple logical steps. Full details are provided in the text and the numerous exercises while additional insight is provided through the numerous diagrams. As a result this book makes an excellent course for any reader coming to the subject for the first time while providing a thorough understanding for any student wanting to go on to study the subject in depth
Author: James Owen Weatherall
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300224494
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 207
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Book Description
The New York Times bestselling author of The Physics of Wall Street “deftly explains all you wanted to know about nothingness—a.k.a. the quantum vacuum” (Priyamvada Natarajan, author of Mapping the Heavens). James Owen Weatherall’s bestselling book, The Physics of Wall Street, was named one of Physics Today’s five most intriguing books of 2013. In this work, he takes on a fundamental concept of modern physics: nothing. The physics of stuff—protons, neutrons, electrons, and even quarks and gluons—is at least somewhat familiar to most of us. But what about the physics of nothing? Isaac Newton thought of empty space as nothingness extended in all directions, a kind of theater in which physics could unfold. But both quantum theory and relativity tell us that Newton’s picture can’t be right. Nothing, it turns out, is an awful lot like something, with a structure and properties every bit as complex and mysterious as matter. In his signature lively prose, Weatherall explores the very nature of empty space—and solidifies his reputation as a science writer to watch. Included on the 2017 Best Book List by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) “An engaging and interesting account.”—The Economist “Readers get a dose of biography while following such figures as Einstein, Dirac, and Newton to see how top theories about the void have been discovered, developed, and debunked. Weatherall’s clear language and skillful organization adroitly combines history and physics to show readers just how much ‘nothing really matters.’”—Publishers Weekly
Author: Friedrich Stadler
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030043789
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 721
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Book Description
This edited volume features essays written in honor of Ernst Mach. It explores his life, work, and legacy. Readers will gain a better understanding of this natural scientist and scholar who made major contributions to physics, the philosophy of science, and physiological psychology. The essays offer a critical inventory of Mach’s lifework in line with state-of-the-art research and historiography. It begins with physics, where he paved the way for Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. The account continues with Mach's contributions in biology, psychology, and physiology pioneering with an empiricist and gestalthaft Analysis of Sensations. Readers will also discover how in the philosophy of science he served as a model for the Vienna Circle with the Ernst Mach Society as well as paved the way for an integrated history and theory of science. Indeed, his influence extends far beyond the natural sciences -- to the Vienna Medical School and psychoanalysis (R. Bárány, J. Breuer, S. Freud), to literature (Jung Wien, R. Musil), to politics (F. Adler, Austro-Marxism and the Viennese adult education), to arts between Futurism and Minimal Art as well as to social sciences between the liberal school (J. Schumpeter, F. A. von Hayek) and empirical social research (P. Lazarsfeld und M. Jahoda).
Author: Matthew Stanley
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1524745421
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 402
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Book Description
Winner of the Watson Davis and Helen Miles Davis Prize "Stanley is a storyteller par excellence."—The Washington Post The birth of a world-changing idea in the middle of a bloodbath Einstein’s War is a riveting exploration of both the beauty of scientific creativity and enduring horrors of human nature. These two great forces battle in a story that culminates with a victory now a century old, the mind bending theory of general relativity. Few recognize how the Great War, the industrialized slaughter that bled Europe from 1914 to 1918, shaped Einstein’s life and work. While Einstein never held a rifle, he formulated general relativity blockaded in Berlin, literally starving. He lost 50 pounds in three months, unable to communicate with his most important colleagues. Some of those colleagues fought against rabid nationalism; others were busy inventing chemical warfare—being a scientist trapped you in the power plays of empire. Meanwhile, Einstein struggled to craft relativity and persuade the world that it was correct. This was, after all, the first complete revision of our conception of the universe since Isaac Newton, and its victory was far from sure. Scientists seeking to confirm Einstein’s ideas were arrested as spies. Technical journals were banned as enemy propaganda. Colleagues died in the trenches. Einstein was separated from his most crucial ally by barbed wire and U-boats. This ally was the Quaker astronomer and Cambridge don A.S. Eddington who would go on to convince the world of the truth of relativity and the greatness of Einstein. In May of 1919, when Europe was still in chaos from the war, Eddington led a globe-spanning expedition to catch a fleeting solar eclipse for a rare opportunity to confirm Einstein’s bold prediction that light has weight. It was the result of this expedition—the proof of relativity, as many saw it—that put Einstein on front pages around the world. Matthew Stanley’s epic tale is a celebration of how bigotry and nationalism can be defeated, and of what science can offer when they are.
