Philosophy of physics /

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"Version: 20171001"--Title page verso.Includes bibliographical references (pages 18-21)Introduction -- 1. Background : three traditions -- 1.1. Analytic -- 1.2. Pragmatic -- 1.3. Continental -- 2. Current issues -- 3. What is fundamental physics? -- 4. What are time and space? -- 4.1. Time -- 4.2. Space -- 5. How to interpret quantum mechanics? -- 6. Is there a scientific method? -- 6.1. The case of Yang-Mills -- 6.2. Other issues -- 7. Outlook.There are some physics controversies that no amount of physics research can answer. Why is doing string theory scientific despite its lack of empirical predictions? How should we interpret quantum mechanics? What is the nature of time and space? What constitutes fundamental physics? One can answer these questions dogmatically by appealing to textbooks or by making rough and ready pronouncements, but the issues behind them can often be significantly clarified by the sort of systematic, critical reflection that philosophy practices. Philosophy comes in several traditions. Three of these--known as 'analytic,' 'pragmatic' and 'continental'--have paid particular attention to physics. This ebook illustrates philosophy of physics in action, and how it can help physics, by using four examples from physics to exhibit the aims and value of these philosophical approaches.Final-year undergraduates, new PhD students and early-career scientists.Mode of access: World Wide Web.System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader, EPUB reader, or Kindle reader.Robert P. Crease is a professor in and chair of the Department of Philosophy at Q3 Stony Brook University, New York. He has written, translated, or edited over a dozen books on the history and philosophy of science and technology. He is past chair of the Forum for History of Physics of the American Physical Society. He is Co-editor-in-chief of Physics in Perspective, and for 17 years he has written a column, 'Critical Point', on the historical, social, and philosophical dimensions of science for Physics World. His books include The Quantum Moment: How Planck, Bohr, Einstein, and Heisenberg Taught Us to Love Uncertainty (with Alfred S. Goldhaber, Norton 2014); World in the Balance: The Historic Quest for an Absolute System of Measurement (Norton 2011); The Great Equations: Breakthroughs in Science from Pythagoras to Heisenberg (Norton 2009); The Prism and the Pendulum: The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments in Science (Random House 2003); Making Physics: A Biography of Brookhaven National Laboratory, 1946-1972 (University of Chicago Press 1999); The Play of Nature: Experimentation as Performance (Indiana University Press 1993); and The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in 20th Century Physics (with Charles C. Mann, Macmillan 1986). His website is:Title from PDF title page (viewed on November 18, 2017).

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Publisher

: .,

Collation

1 online resource (viii, 21 pages).

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

9780750315425

Classification

530.01

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Edition

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Subject(s)

Physics
Philosophy of science.
PHILOSOPHY / Metaphysics.

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Statement of Responsibility

Robert P. Crease.

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