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Author: Norman Swartz
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521277297
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 220
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Book Description
The Concept of Physical Law is an original and creative defense of the Regularity theory of physical law, the concept that physical laws are nothing more than descriptions of whatever universal truths happen to be instanced in nature. Professor Swartz clearly identifies and analyzes the arguments and intuitions of the opposing Necessitarian theory, and argues that the standard objection to the Regularity theory turns on a mistaken view of what Regularists mean by 'physical impossibility'; that it is impossible to construct an empirical test that can distinguish between events Necessitarians call 'mere accidents' and those they call 'nornologically necessary', and that the Necessitarian theory cannot account for human beings' free wills. Other topics in this important work include: the distinction between instrumental scientific laws and true physical laws; the distinction between failure and doom; potentialities; miracles and marvels; predictability and uniformity; statistical and numerical laws; and necessity-in-praxis.
Author: Norman Swartz
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521277297
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 220
Get Book Here
Book Description
The Concept of Physical Law is an original and creative defense of the Regularity theory of physical law, the concept that physical laws are nothing more than descriptions of whatever universal truths happen to be instanced in nature. Professor Swartz clearly identifies and analyzes the arguments and intuitions of the opposing Necessitarian theory, and argues that the standard objection to the Regularity theory turns on a mistaken view of what Regularists mean by 'physical impossibility'; that it is impossible to construct an empirical test that can distinguish between events Necessitarians call 'mere accidents' and those they call 'nornologically necessary', and that the Necessitarian theory cannot account for human beings' free wills. Other topics in this important work include: the distinction between instrumental scientific laws and true physical laws; the distinction between failure and doom; potentialities; miracles and marvels; predictability and uniformity; statistical and numerical laws; and necessity-in-praxis.
Author: Richard P Feynman
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141956119
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 242
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Book Description
Collecting legendary lectures from freewheeling scientific genius Richard P. Feynman, The Character of Physical Law is the perfect example of his gift for making complex subjects accessible and entertaining A series of classic lectures, delivered in 1960 and recorded for the BBC. This is Feynman's unique take on the problems and puzzles that lie at the heart of physical theory - with Newton's Law of Gravitation; on whether time can ever go backwards; on maths as the supreme language of nature. Demonstrates Feynman's knack of finding the right everyday illustration to bring out the essence of a complicated principle - eg brilliant analogy between the law of conservation energy and the problem of drying yourself with wet towels. 'Feynman's style inspired a generation of scientists. This volume remains the best record I know of his exhilarating vision' Paul Davies
Author: Satdev Sharma
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781502960443
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 460
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Book Description
The humble attempt is made in the present short thesis to give mathematical and model form to the ideas about creation expressed in the seed form in the ancient scriptures. Evolution of physical laws is the discipline code for the matter to follow to keep the chaos under check. The evolution of physical laws is necessary consequence of the evolution of matter. The model of the basic units of mass are Akashon (etheron) and that of energy is Prakashon (photon) are governed by very simple mathematical relations and all the laws governing the Universe can be easily dug out by the proper handling of the model and the associated simple mathematical relations without using mind boggling higher mathematics.
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030917113X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222
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Book Description
Advances made by physicists in understanding matter, space, and time and by astronomers in understanding the universe as a whole have closely intertwined the question being asked about the universe at its two extremesâ€"the very large and the very small. This report identifies 11 key questions that have a good chance to be answered in the next decade. It urges that a new research strategy be created that brings to bear the techniques of both astronomy and sub-atomic physics in a cross-disciplinary way to address these questions. The report presents seven recommendations to facilitate the necessary research and development coordination. These recommendations identify key priorities for future scientific projects critical for realizing these scientific opportunities.
Author: J. T. Ismael
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190269456
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 289
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Book Description
In 1687 Isaac Newton ushered in a new scientific era in which laws of nature could be used to predict the movements of matter with almost perfect precision. Newton's physics also posed a profound challenge to our self-understanding, however, for the very same laws that keep airplanes in the air and rivers flowing downhill tell us that it is in principle possible to predict what each of us will do every second of our entire lives, given the early conditions of the universe. Can it really be that even while you toss and turn late at night in the throes of an important decision and it seems like the scales of fate hang in the balance, that your decision is a foregone conclusion? Can it really be that everything you have done and everything you ever will do is determined by facts that were in place long before you were born? This problem is one of the staples of philosophical discussion. It is discussed by everyone from freshman in their first philosophy class, to theoretical physicists in bars after conferences. And yet there is no topic that remains more unsettling, and less well understood. If you want to get behind the façade, past the bare statement of determinism, and really try to understand what physics is telling us in its own terms, read this book. The problem of free will raises all kinds of questions. What does it mean to make a decision, and what does it mean to say that our actions are determined? What are laws of nature? What are causes? What sorts of things are we, when viewed through the lenses of physics, and how do we fit into the natural order? Ismael provides a deeply informed account of what physics tells us about ourselves. The result is a vision that is abstract, alien, illuminating, and-Ismael argues-affirmative of most of what we all believe about our own freedom. Written in a jargon-free style, How Physics Makes Us Free provides an accessible and innovative take on a central question of human existence.
Author: Lawrence Sklar
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 019514564X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 305
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Book Description
In nine new essays, distinguished philosophers of science discuss outstanding issues in scientific methodology --especially that of the physical sciences-and address philosophical questions that arise in the exploration of the foundations of contemporary science.
Author: Nancy Cartwright
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191519901
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232
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Book Description
In this sequence of philosophical essays about natural science, Nancy Cartwright argues that fundamental explanatory laws, the deepest and most admired successes of modern physics, do not in fact describe the regularities that exist in nature. Yet she is not `anti-realist'. Rather, she draws a novel distinction, arguing that theoretical entities, and the complex and localized laws that describe them, can be interpreted realistically, but that the simple unifying laws of basic theory cannot.
Author: Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Physics
Languages : en
Pages : 394
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Book Description
Author: OpenStax
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781680920451
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 622
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Book Description
University Physics is a three-volume collection that meets the scope and sequence requirements for two- and three-semester calculus-based physics courses. Volume 1 covers mechanics, sound, oscillations, and waves. Volume 2 covers thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, and Volume 3 covers optics and modern physics. This textbook emphasizes connections between between theory and application, making physics concepts interesting and accessible to students while maintaining the mathematical rigor inherent in the subject. Frequent, strong examples focus on how to approach a problem, how to work with the equations, and how to check and generalize the result. The text and images in this textbook are grayscale.
Author: Peter Rowlands
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company Incorporated
ISBN: 9789814618373
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 247
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Book Description
The book originated in a series of lectures given at Liverpool in 2013 to a group that included postgraduate and undergraduate students and staff of the Physics Department. They followed from two very successful lectures given to the undergraduate Physical Society. It seemed that there was a very large interest among the students in investigating the foundations of physics in a way that was never done in physics courses, and was not available in books or other outlets. However, the idea was to create a framework in which students (and interested staff) could develop their own thinking relative to the ideas in the lectures. So it was important to create both conceptual and mathematical structures on the issues that are important at this level. The book has the right sort of technical content to allow for this development, but doesn't lose itself in excessive details. The ideal use for this book would be on postgraduate courses where students would be encouraged to think about the foundations in a way that is well beyond the superficial. However, a course on aspects of this material would also be valuable at the undergraduate level, where students could be stimulated into believing that creative thinking could solve the problems that emerge when we confront foundational problems.
