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This book presents in full the work of the Italian theoretical physicist Ettore Majorana and explains its impacts, which are still being felt. It opens with a contribution by A. Zichichi that considers in depth the scientific genius of Majorana. This introductory chapter is followed, in chronological order, by the eleven scientific papers by this great scientist, in most cases translated into English for the first time. Each paper is accompanied by a comment from an expert in the field in question. Although very few in number, Majorana's papers constitute a heritage of undeniable value and extraordinary scientific meaning, since they laid the foundations for research fields that remain topical today. With this in mind, two additional contributions on ongoing developments in these research fields are included: one on neutrino physics and the other on Majorana fermions in condensed matter. The volume closes with a note on Majorana's life until his ill-fated disappearance.

Produced by an award-winning translator of Henri Poincaré, this book contains translations of several seminal articles by Poincaré and discusses the experimental and theoretical investigations of electrons that form their context. In the 1950s, a dispute ignited about the origin of the theory of special relativity and thrust considerable notoriety on a paper written by Henri Poincaré in 1905. Accordingly, Part I presents the relevant translations of Poincaré's work showing that radiation carries momentum and the covariance of the equations of electrodynamics, the continuity equation for charge, and the spacetime interval. Part II then discusses investigations by Thomson, Becquerel, and Kaufmann of electrons in diverse contexts; contributions of Abraham, Lorentz and Poincaré to a theory of electrons that includes Lorentz transformations and explains the dependence of mass on velocity; and finally, Poincaré's exploration of the relativity principle, electron stability, and gravitation while rejecting absolute motion (ether) and an electromagnetic origin of mass. Part III contains the 1904 article by H. A. Lorentz presenting his transformations.This book will be a fascinating read to graduate-level students, physicists, and science historians who are interested in the development of electrodynamics and the classical, relativistic theory of electrons at the beginning of the 20th century.

Eugene Wigner is one of the few giants of 20th-century physics. His early work helped to shape quantum mechanics, he laid the foundations of nuclear physics and nuclear engineering, and he contributed significantly to solid-state physics. His philosophical and political writings are widely known. All his works will be reprinted in Eugene Paul Wigner's Collected Workstogether with descriptive annotations by outstanding scientists. The present volume begins with a short biographical sketch followed by Wigner's papers on group theory, an extremely powerful tool he created for theoretical quantum physics. They are presented in two parts. The first, annotated by B. Judd, covers applications to atomic and molecular spectra, term structure, time reversal and spin. In the second, G. Mackey introduces to the reader the mathematical papers, many of which are outstanding contributions to the theory of unitary representations of groups, including the famous paper on the Lorentz group.

This edited volume explores the philosophical implications of quantum mechanics. It features papers from venues of the International Ontology Congress (IOC) up to 2016. IOC is a worldwide platform for dialogue and reflection on the interactions between science and philosophy.The collection features philosophers as well as physicists, including David Albert, Harvey Brown, Jeffrey Bub, Otávio Bueno, James Cushing, Steven French, Victor Gomez-Pin, Carl Hoefer, Simon Kochen, Peter Lewis, Tim Maudlin, Peter Mittlestatedt, Roland Omnès, Juha Saatsi, Albert Solé, David Wallace, and Anton Zeilinger.Since the early days of quantum mechanics, philosophers have studied the subject with growing technical skill and fruitfulness. Their efforts have unveiled intellectual bridges between physics and philosophy. These connections have helped fuel the contemporary debate about the scope and limits of realism and understanding in the interpretation of physical theories and scientific theories in general. The philosophical analysis of quantum mechanics is now one of the most sophisticated and productive areas in contemporary philosophy, as the papers in this collection illustrate.

This monograph presents new ideas in nomic truth approximation. It features original and revised papers from a (formal) philosopher of science who has studied the concept for more than 35 years.Over the course of time, the author's initial ideas evolved. He discovered a way to generalize his first theory of nomic truth approximation, viz. by dropping an unnecessarily strong assumption. In particular, he first believed to have to assume that theories were maximally specific in the sense that they did not only exclude certain conceptual possibilities, but also that all non-excluded possibilities were in fact claimed to be nomically possible.Now, he argues that the exclusion claim alone, or for that matter the inclusion claim alone, is sufficient to motivate the formal definition of being closer to the nomic truth. The papers collected here detail this generalized view of nomic truthlikeness or verisimilitude.Besides this, the book presents, in adapted form, the relation with several other topics, such as, domain revision, aesthetic progress, abduction, inference to the best explanation, pragmatic aspects, probabilistic methods, belief revision and epistemological positions, notably constructive realism.Overall, the volume presents profound insight into nomic truth approximation. This idea seeks to determine how one theory can be closer to, or more similar to, the truth about what is nomically, e.g. physically, chemically, biologically, possible than another theory. As a result, it represents the ultimate goal of theory oriented empirical science.Theo Kuipers is the author of Studies in Inductive Probability and Rational Expectation (1978), From Instrumentalism to Constructive Realism (2000) and Structures in Science (2001). He is the volume-editor of the Handbook on General Philosophy of Science (2007).In 2005 there appeared two volumes of Essays in Debate with Theo Kuipers, entitled Confirmation, Empirical Progress, and Truth Approximation and Cognitive Structures in Scientific Inquiry.

A vivid and comprehensive picture of the current state of research in all directions of logic and philosophy of science. The book presents a wide combination of papers containing relevant technical results in the foundations of science and papers devoted to conceptual analyses, deeply rooted in advanced present-day research. Audience: The volume is attractive both for specialists in foundational questions and scholars interested in general epistemology.

The Law of Causality and its Limits was the principal philosophical work of the physicist turned philosopher, Philipp Frank. Born in Vienna on March 20, 1884, Frank died in Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 21, 1966. He received his doctorate in 1907 at the University of Vienna in theoretical physics, having studied under Ludwig Boltzmann; his sub­ sequent research in physics and mathematics was represented by more than 60 scientific papers. Moreover his great success as teacher and expositor was recognized throughout the scientific world with publication of his collaborative Die Differentialgleichungen der Mechanik und Physik, with Richard von Mises, in 1925-27. Frank was responsible for the second volume, on physics, and especially noted for his authoritative article on classical Hamiltonian mechanics and optics. Among his earliest papers were those, beginning in 1908, devoted to special relativity, which together with general relativity and physical cosmology occupied him throughout his life. Already in 1907, Frank published his seminal paper'Kausalgesetz und Erfahrung'('Experience and the Law of Causality'), much later collected with a splendid selection of his essays on philosophy of science, in English (1941c and 1949g, in our Bibliography). Joining the first'Vienna Circle'in the first decade of the 20th century, with Hans Hahn, mathematician, and Otto Neurath, sociologist and economist, and deeply influenced by studies of Ernst Mach's critical conceptual histories of science and by the striking challenge of Poincare and Duhem, Frank continued his epistemological investigations.

This volume is dedicated to the one hundredth anniversary of the publication of Hermann Minkowski's paper'Space and Time'in 1909. His work on the spacetime representation of special relativity had a huge impact on the twentieth century physics to the extent that modern physics would be impossible without the notion of spacetime. While there is consensus on the mathematical significance of spacetime in theoretical physics, for a hundred years there has been no consensus on the nature of spacetime itself. We owe Minkowski a clear answer to the question of the nature of spacetime -- whether it is only a mathematical space or represents a real four-dimensional world. A century after its publication the original Minkowski paper still represents an enrichment to the physicists, especially the relativists, who read it with the intent to fully investigate the depth of Minkowski's ideas on space and time and the physical meaning of special relativity. The volume begins with an excellent retranslation of Minkowski's paper by Dennis Lehmkuhl, accompanied by the original German version of the article. The fourteen contributions are divided into three parts entitled'The Impact of Minkowski Spacetime on the Twentieth Century Physics from a Historical Perspective','Implications of Minkowski Spacetime for Theoretical Physics', and'Conceptual and Philosophical Issues of Minkowski Spacetime.'

A theoretical physicist returns by train from a conference, his eyes fixed on a paper on quantum cosmology. Suddenly, a little girl's voice interrupts his musings.'What are you reading?''It's the story of the universe.''If it tells the whole story of the universe, does it say anything about me?'Starting from this question, this book explores our current understanding of the Big Bang, the primordial event that gave rise to the special mixture of space, time, and matter that we call the universe. It is a journey through cosmic history, pushing the limits of human knowledge, winding its way through general relativity, curved spaces, quantum mechanics and the multiverse. Giudice succeeds in uniting science and the history of thought, tracing the debate that animated the physics community, when faced with the hypothesis and then the confirmation of the Big Bang. This book recounts the great discoveries in cosmology and leads us to the frontiers of current scientific research. It is a fascinating and thought-provoking parable that addresses complex concepts with the fluidity of storytelling and allows us to better understand the universe around us. “A fascinating, enchanting narrative. A fairy tale that tells a true story spanning 13.8 billion years. Exciting from the first to the last page.” Fabiola Gianotti, CERN Director General “In this beautiful book, of exemplary clarity, Giudice guides us by the hand through the history and mysteries of the Big Bang.” Giorgio Parisi, 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics

John von Neumann (1903-1957) was undoubtedly one of the scientific geniuses of the 20th century. The main fields to which he contributed include various disciplines of pure and applied mathematics, mathematical and theoretical physics, logic, theoretical computer science, and computer architecture. Von Neumann was also actively involved in politics and science management and he had a major impact on US government decisions during, and especially after, the Second World War. There exist several popular books on his personality and various collections focusing on his achievements in mathematics, computer science, and economy. Strangely enough, to date no detailed appraisal of his seminal contributions to the mathematical foundations of quantum physics has appeared. Von Neumann's theory of measurement and his critique of hidden variables became the touchstone of most debates in the foundations of quantum mechanics. Today, his name also figures most prominently in the mathematically rigorous branches of contemporary quantum mechanics of large systems and quantum field theory. And finally - as one of his last lectures, published in this volume for the first time, shows - he considered the relation of quantum logic and quantum mechanical probability as his most important problem for the second half of the twentieth century. The present volume embraces both historical and systematic analyses of his methodology of mathematical physics, and of the various aspects of his work in the foundations of quantum physics, such as theory of measurement, quantum logic, and quantum mechanical entropy. The volume is rounded off by previously unpublished letters and lectures documenting von Neumann's thinking about quantum theory after his 1932 Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics. The general part of the Yearbook contains papers emerging from the Institute's annual lecture series and reviews of important publications of philosophy of science and its history.

According to the modal interpretation, the standard mathematical framework of quantum mechanics specifies the physical magnitudes of a system, which have definite values. Probabilities are assigned to the possible values that these magnitudes may adopt. The interpretation is thus concerned with physical properties rather than with measurement results: it is a realistic interpretation (in the sense of scientific realism). One of the notable achievements of this interpretation is that it dissolves the notorious measurement problem. The papers collected here, together with the introduction and concluding critical appraisal, explain the various forms of the modal interpretation, survey its achievements, and discuss those problems that have yet to be solved. Audience: Philosophers of science, theoretical physicists, and graduate students in these disciplines.

Pierre Duhem (1861–1916) held the chair of theoretical physics at Bordeaux from 1894 to his death. He established a reputation in both the history and philosophy of science as well as in science itself (physics and physical chemistry). Much of his work in the first two areas has been translated into English, but little of his technical scientific work. The present volume contains early work of Duhem's illustrating his interest in the rigorous development of physical theory for which he is famous. It opens with what was the first critical discussion of Gibbs'groundbreaking'On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances'(1876-8), where Duhem addressed the problem that, as he put it,'Mathematicians regret that the principles of Thermodynamics should have been developed in general with so little precision that the same proposition can be regarded by some as a consequence, and by others as a negation, of these principles'. The other papers, forming a three-part series, pursue this project of putting the foundations of thermodynamics on a clearer and more secure basis. This book will be of interest to scholars in history and philosophy of science, especially those interested in the development of physical chemistry and the work of Pierre Duhem.

Complex systems seem to magically emerge from the interactions of their parts. A whirlpool emerges from water molecules. A living cell from organic molecules. You emerge from the cells of your body. Not since chaos has a concept from physics spread like wildfire to other disciplines. Emergence can be found from chemistry to economics; from psychology to ecology. At its heart is the alluring idea that there's more to the world than physics, that there is a holistic component to nature, an edge of mystery. “Physics Fixes All the Facts” starts by taking you on a tour through a fascinating world of complexity, exploring phenomena from the inside of an atomic nucleus to bacterial behaviour to the ability of your thoughts to affect the world. These examples are used along with a thorough exploration of the philosophical literature to untangle the notoriously poorly defined concept of emergence. This reveals something surprising: the term emergence is redundant. In its weak form it is so weak that it applies to everything. In its strong form it is so restrictive that it is like the belief that there are pixies in your garden, impossible to exclude but not worth spending your time on. Emergence either applies to all systems or to none. Rather than telling us something about the nature of the world, it is an illusion, an artefact of our cognitive limitations. The past decade has seen a dozen or so monographs and collections about emergence, almost all resolutely supportive of the concept. This book aims to redress the balance. But it is more than just a campaign against the idea of emergence. Graham presents a framework called Austere Physicalism and argues that it is the only coherent way to view the world. He uses this framework to reinterpret so-called emergent phenomena and investigates its wider implications for science. In this radically materialist view, we are nothing but physical systems among others. “Physics Fixes All the Facts” ends by exploring what this means for our sense of free will and consciousness. The book will appeal to academics in fields which use the concepts of complexity or emergence. Scientists and philosophers alike will find unexpected and exciting ideas in these pages. But the target audience is much broader including students who want to add context to their studies and the intellectually curious with some scientific background.

This book provides the first comprehensive, easy-to-read, and up-to-date account of the fascinating discipline of archaeoastronomy, in which the relationship between ancient constructions and the sky is studied to gain a better understanding of the ideas of the architects of the past and their religious and symbolic worlds. The book is divided into three sections. The first section discusses in detail the fundamentals of archaeoastronomy, including the celestial coordinates, the apparent motion of the sun, moon, stars, and planets, observation of celestial bodies at the horizon, the use of astronomical software in archaeoastronomy, and current methods for making and analyzing measurements. The second part explores the past relations between astronomy and people, power, the afterworld, architecture, and landscape The final section reviews what archaeoastronomy can now tell us about the nature and purpose of such sites and structures as Stonehenge, the Pyramids of Giza, Chichen Itza, the Angkor Temples, the Campus Martius, Machu Picchu and the Valley of the Temples of Agrigento. Additionally, it provides a set of exercises that can be performed using non-commercial free software, e.g., Google Earth and Stellarium, and that will equip readers to conduct their research. This book is an ideal introduction to what has become a wide-ranging multidisciplinary science. This newly revised edition includes the most recent research on Stonehenge, ancient Japan, and other sites worldwide.

Questo libro conduce il lettore in un viaggio esplorativo attraverso il Cosmo, dall'antica Mesopotamia ed Egitto fino alla Cina, svelando il fascino dello sviluppo dell'astronomia e della matematica che ha dato vita alla rivoluzione scientifica. Dopo una panoramica sulle origini di questi campi di studio, evidenziando i contributi degli astronomi greci, della cultura araba e del modello eliocentrico di Copernico, il testo si addentra nel lavoro rivoluzionario di Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei e Isaac Newton, offrendo una comprensione approfondita del sistema solare. Gli strumenti utilizzati dagli astronomi, tra cui gli orologi astronomici e le macchine planetarie più significative, sono al centro dell'attenzione, consentendo di comprendere meglio la formazione e la diffusione della concezione del Sistema Solare. Inoltre, l'autore esamina il poco conosciuto progetto di una macchina planetaria di Kepler e ne offre un'interpretazione utilizzando tecniche di realtà virtuale. Il libro mette in luce anche la visione cinese del Cosmo e l'evoluzione della sua astronomia e delle relative macchine, offrendo ai lettori una prospettiva unitaria sulla concezione del cosmo e della tecnologia in Occidente e nell'Estremo Oriente. I dati degli ingranaggi e dei periodi planetari delle macchine esaminate nel testo sono raccolti tra gli annessi web del libo. L'esperienza di lettura è arricchita dalla traduzione della descrizione della macchina planetaria di Christian Huygens e dalla trattazione del progetto e della realizzazione di un Tellurium per comprendere la costruzione e la meccanica delle macchine astronomiche. Inoltre, viene offerta una visione unica sulle influenze religiose sugli studi astronomici del XVIII secolo attraverso la traduzione del libro Cyclus di Johann Albrecht Bengel. Breve materiale video sull'Antikythera, sul Tellurium dell'autore e su quello di Philip M. Hahn completa la documentazione. Questo libro è un must per chiunque sia interessato alla storia della scienza e della tecnologia, appassionando sia gli astronomi, i matematici e i fisici che gli storici della scienza e della tecnologia, fornendo descrizioni affascinanti e analisi illuminanti della visione del Cosmo dalle sue prime concezioni fino ai giorni nostri. Video e documenti disponibili tramite app: scarica gratuitamente l'app SN More Media, scansiona il link con il tasto play e accedi ai video e ai documenti direttamente sul tuo smartphone o tablet.

This book is a gentle introduction for all those wishing to learn about modern views of the cosmos. Our universe originated in a great explosion – the big bang. For nearly a century cosmologists have studied the aftermath of this explosion: how the universe expanded and cooled down, and how galaxies were gradually assembled by gravity. The nature of the bang itself has come into focus only relatively recently. It is the subject of the theory of cosmic inflation, which was developed in the last few decades and has led to a radically new global view of the universe. Students and other interested readers will find here a non-technical but conceptually rigorous account of modern cosmological ideas - describing what we know, and how we know it. One of the book's central themes is the scientific quest to find answers to the ultimate cosmic questions: Is the universe finite or infinite? Has it existed forever? If not, when and how did it come into being? Will it ever end? The book is based on the undergraduate course taught by Alex Vilenkin at Tufts University. It assumes no prior knowledge of physics or mathematics beyond elementary high school math. The necessary physics background is introduced as it is required. Each chapter includes a list of questions and exercises of varying degree of difficulty. This new edition includes hints for answering the questions and exercises, as well as extensions to the discussions on dark matter, quantum cosmology. A new chapter summarizing the standard cosmological model has also been added.

Standard STEM courses, for all of their value, do not tend to include systematic lectures or treatment about the nature of the scientific method. This book aims to provide a wide reflection on the general principles of physics and explore the foundations of scientific knowledge as a whole. The author delves into the study of what lies at the basis of science in general, and physics in particular. Themes such as the relation between natural phenomena and mathematical language are addressed, highlighting the main hubs of conceptual development in science. The volume also examines the conceptual and practical instruments that have been progressively developed to investigate the nature of physics. Furthermore, the author discusses the importance of “scientific practice” within the scientific community, emphasizing its role in advancing knowledge and how it contributes to physics as a whole. Divided into three parts, each covering different aspects of physics and its foundations, the text, while assuming basic knowledge of physics and mathematics taught in university courses, is accessible to all STEM students, and will be useful for anyone looking to gain valuable insights into the nature of physics and the methods used to acquire knowledge in this field.

Anlässlich seines 100. Geburtstages wird an Paul K. Feyerabend erinnert; es werden seine Ideen diskutiert und es wird gefragt, inwieweit diese geeignet sind, aktuelle Geschehnisse und Konflikte zu beurteilen.

This book presents and defends an original and paradigm-shifting conception of formal science, natural science, and the natural universe alike, that's fully pro-science, but at the same time neither theological or God-centered, nor solipsistic or self-centered, nor communitarian or social-institution-centered, nor scientistic or science-valorizing, nor materialist/physicalist or reductive, nor—above all—mechanistic. It does this by presenting and defending what Robert Hanna calls the neo-organicist turn, including manifest realism and the three sub-parts of metaphysical organicism: liberal naturalism, mind-life continuity, and explanatory inversion, whereby mechanical systems are explained by grounding them in organic systems, and not the other way around. Or more briefly and simply put, the purpose of this book is to present and defend science for humans. As such, it will be highly interesting and profoundly relevant to graduate students and specialist researchers in philosophy and the formal-&-natural sciences.

This book deconstructs and debunks the lucrative and widespread marriage of quantum physics with pop-spirituality while tracing this pernicious strain of pseudoscience to its source: the founders of quantum mechanics themselves. The association of mystical ideas with modern physics in the self-improvement industry is not new. The “spookiness” of quantum properties like uncertainty and entanglement has proven fertile ground for new-age mystics and alternative medicine advocates who saw a way to put a scientific veneer on their claims. In the early days, the founders of quantum physics accused it of implying an observer-created reality. Later, Taoists and Wu Li dancers were quantized. Then ancient Indian medicine, Ayurveda, morphed into “quantum healing.” Little wonder The Oprah Winfrey Show told its viewers: think about losing weight, making more money, and falling in love, and you'll become thin, wealthy, and happily married … all based on quantum physics. Criticism of the pseudoscientific misappropriation of quantum physics has been widespread but inadequate; thus far, the scientific community has failed to account for its own role in the fusion of pop-spirituality and quantum physics. As well as thoroughly exploring and debunking quantum mysticism, this book traces the development of quantum mysticism and pulls no punches in exposing the unwitting role of quantum theory's founders in propagating quantum mysticism.

This book explores the different conceptions of reality in the various interpretations of Quantum Mechanics, demonstrating the intimate connection to philosophy of physics. With interest in the foundations of Quantum Mechanics having revived in recent decades, a number of interpretations have been formulated or rediscovered and these remain in strong competition with one another for acceptance by the scientific community. At the same time they imply quite different notions of reality. The author provides an overview of these conceptions of reality and their embedding in physical theories, interpretations of Quantum Mechanics and related philosophical frameworks. Starting with Aristotle's principles, the deep fruitful connection between philosophy and physics guides this journey through the foundations of Quantum Mechanics.

This revised and enhanced new edition of a well-established textbook provides a balanced overview of various areas of theoretical physics based on the use of variational principles. As well as field theory, the book deals with motion in curved spaces, the cradle of general relativity, and gravitational optics. New chapters on the relation of classical mechanics and geometrical optics as well as gravitational waves, which are considered as a true confirmation of general relativity, have been included. Each chapter has been carefully revised and enlarged. Finally, the text describes Feynman's formulation of quantum mechanics by path integrals, which gives the link between quantum and classical mechanics.The book provides a set of exercises, problems, and solutions.

Quantentheorie und Relativitätstheorie haben das Weltbild der Physik revolutioniert. Beide Theorien gelten jedoch als unanschaulich und schwer verständlich. Dieses Sachbuch schafft neue Zugänge und lädt zum Mitdenken ein. Renommierte Experten aus Physik und Philosophie erläutern Grundbegriffe, Erkenntnisfortschritte und Deutungsfragen zu Raum, Zeit und Materie.Dabei kommen typische Themen aus der Philosophie der Physik zur Sprache, wie etwa die Interpretationsdebatte der Quantentheorie oder Modellbildungen in der Kosmologie. Weltbildrelevante Fragen nach dem Verhältnis von Mathematik, Empirie und Anschauung oder nach der Verlässlichkeit physikalischer Erkenntnis erfordern die Verbindung von Physik und Philosophie, von fachwissenschaftlicher Grundlagenforschung und methodenkritischer Reflexion. Der thematische Bogen geht zurück auf ein hochkarätig besetztes Symposium mit populärwissenschaftlicher Ausrichtung. Das Buch enthält Beiträge von Andreas Bartels, RobertHarlander, Paul Hoyningen-Huene, Gert-Ludwig Ingold, Claus Kiefer, Meinard Kuhlmann, Klaus Mainzer, Oliver Passon, Manfred Stöckler, Rüdiger Vaas und Reinhard Werner.

This volume collects previously unpublished contributions to the philosophy of science. What brings them together is a twofold goal: first and foremost, celebrating the name of Roberto Torretti, whose works in this and other areas have had –and continue to have– a significant impact on the international philosophy of science community; and second, the desire of advancing novel perspectives on various issues in the philosophy of science broadly construed. Roberto Torretti has made substantial contributions to current debates in the history and philosophy of science, the general philosophy of science, and the philosophy of physics and geometry. Among his landmark contributions, we find his investigations in the history and philosophy of geometry, as well as his systematic studies of Einstein's relativity theory. This volume convenes leading philosophers and early-career scholars compiling a fine collection of chapters addressing recent debates on Kantian philosophy of science, the general philosophy of science, and the history and philosophy of physics and mathematics.

This book offers the first comprehensive and authoritative text on the history of physics in Italy's industrial and financial capital, from the foundation of the University of Milan's Institute of Physics in 1924 up to the early 1960s, when it moved to its current location. It includes biographies and a historical-scientific analysis of the main research topics investigated by world-renowned physicists such as Aldo Pontremoli, Giovanni Polvani, Giovanni Gentile Jr., Beppo Occhialini, and Piero Caldirola, highlighting their contributions to the development of Italian physics in a national and international context. Further, the book provides a historical perspective on the interplay of physics and politics in Italy during both the Fascist regime and the postwar reconstruction period, which led to the creation of the CISE (Centro Informazioni Studi Esperienze, a research center for applied nuclear physics, funded by private industries) in 1946, and of the Milan division of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) in 1951.

This book explores the premise that a physical theory is an interpretation of the analytico–canonical formalism. Throughout the text, the investigation stresses that classical mechanics in its Lagrangian formulation is the formal backbone of theoretical physics. The authors start from a presentation of the analytico–canonical formalism for classical mechanics, and its applications in electromagnetism, Schrödinger's quantum mechanics, and field theories such as general relativity and gauge field theories, up to the Higgs mechanism.The analysis uses the main criterion used by physicists for a theory: to formulate a physical theory we write down a Lagrangian for it. A physical theory is a particular instance of the Lagrangian functional. So, there is already an unified physical theory. One only has to specify the corresponding Lagrangian (or Lagrangian density); the dynamical equations are the associated Euler–Lagrange equations. The theory of Suppes predicates as the main tool inthe axiomatization and examples from the usual theories in physics. For applications, a whole plethora of results from logic that lead to interesting, and sometimes unexpected, consequences.This volume looks at where our physics happen and which mathematical universe we require for the description of our concrete physical events. It also explores if we use the constructive universe or if we need set–theoretically generic spacetimes.

Quantum theory is at the foundation of the physical description of our world. One of the people who contributed significantly to our conceptual understanding of this theory was Heinz-Dieter Zeh (1932-2018). He was the pioneer of the process of decoherence, through which the classical appearance of our world can be understood. This volume presents a collection of essays dedicated to his memory, written by distinguished scientists and scholars. They cover all aspects of the interpretation of quantum theory in general and the quantum-to-classical transition in particular. This volume provides illuminating reading to anyone seeking a deep understanding of quantum theory and its relevance to the foundations of physics.

This book explores the philosophy and the foundations of quantum chemistry. It features chapters written by experts in the field. The contributions analyze quantum chemistry as a discipline, in particular, its relation with both chemistry and physics from the viewpoint of realism and reduction. Coverage includes such topics as quantum chemistry as an “in-between” discipline, molecular structure and quantum mechanics, quantum chemical models, and atoms and molecules in quantum chemistry.The interest of this book is twofold. First, the contributions aim to update and refresh the discussions regarding the foundations of quantum chemistry. Second, they seek to develop new philosophical perspectives that this discipline can suggest to philosophers of science.From its origins, quantum chemistry filled a problematic position in the disciplinary space. On the one hand, it is a branch of theoretical chemistry. On the other hand, it appeals essentially to theoretical tools coming from physics. This peculiar position triggered conceptual questions about its own identity. Inside this book, readers will find updated discussions on the foundations and the philosophy of this complex discipline.

Many people, including physicists, are confused about what the Second Law of thermodynamics really means, about how it relates to the arrow of time, and about whether it can be derived from classical mechanics. They also wonder what entropy really is: Is it all about information? But, if so, then, what is its relation to fluxes of heat?One might ask similar questions about probabilities: Do they express subjective judgments by us, humans, or do they reflect facts about the world, i.e. frequencies. And what notion of probability is used in the natural sciences, in particular statistical mechanics?This book addresses all of these questions in the clear and pedagogical style for which the author is known. Although valuable as accompaniment to an undergraduate course on statistical mechanics or thermodynamics, it is not a standard course book. Instead it addresses both the essentials and the many subtle questions that are usually brushed under the carpet in such courses. As one of the most lucid accounts of the above questions, it provides enlightening reading for all those seeking answers, including students, lecturers, researchers and philosophers of science.

Quantum mechanics is one of the most fascinating elements of the physics curriculum, but its conceptual nuances and mathematical complexity can be daunting for beginning students. This user-friendly text is designed for a one-semester course which bridges the gap between sophomore-level treatments and advanced undergraduate/lower-graduate courses. Qualitative explanations and descriptions of historical background are combined with detailed mathematical analyses to help students establish a firm foundation for further study. Classical problems such potential wells, barrier penetration, alpha decay, the harmonic oscillator, and the hydrogen atom are examined in detail, and formalisms and techniques such as operators, expectation values, commutators, perturbation theory, numerical solutions, and the variational theorem are also covered. Particular emphasis is placed on providing numerous worked examples and exercises.

In diesem mehrbändigen Werk finden sich die Briefwechsel des bedeutenden Physikers und Nobelpreisträgers Otto Stern (1888–1969). Das Besondere an dieser Sammlung ist, dass die einzelnen Bände nicht streng chronologisch, sondern nach Themen und Personen angeordnet sind, um je einen Themenschwerpunkt im Leben Sterns im Zusammenhang vorzustellen. Erklärende Texte zwischen den Briefen ermöglichen ein tieferes Verständnis der wissenschaftlichen und historischen Zusammenhänge. Das Werk richtet sich damit nicht nur an Wissenschaftshistoriker, sondern an alle interessierten Leser, die mehr über Otto Stern und sein Wirken erfahren möchten.Im vorliegenden dritten Band werden im Wesentlichen seine Briefe nach seiner Emeritierung im Jahre 1945 vorgestellt. Aus der Zeit davor werden noch einige dienstliche Briefe mit Universitätsverwaltungen, seine Konferenzbesuche betreffend, aufgeführt. Die Darstellung der Briefe in diesem Band erfolgt in chronologischer Reihenfolge und zeigt eine wichtige Seite des Menschen Otto Stern.Sie belegen seine rege Teilnahme an nationalen und internationalen wissenschaftlichen Veranstaltungen und Konferenzen und zeigen Sterns große internationale Bedeutung bei der Entstehung der modernen Quantenphysik. Viele Briefe aus der Nachkriegszeit dokumentieren seine zahlreichen und langen Gastaufenthalte in der von ihm geliebten Schweiz. Der Briefwechsel der letzten Jahre seines Lebens stellt ein schrittweises Abschiednehmen dar, das gekennzeichnet ist durch den weiterhin gepflegten lebenslangen Kontakt zu bestimmten Personen, einigen Kollegen, Freunden und Verwandten. Mit diesem Werk soll an den herausragenden Physiker und Menschen Otto Stern erinnert werden, der mit seinen genialen Experimentierverfahren Vater des Stern-Gerlach-Experiments war und zusammen mit Walther Gerlach dieses in genialer Weise durchführte. Dies war ein Meilenstein für die Entwicklung der modernen Quantenphysik.

Using simple physical examples, this work by Erhard Scheibe presents an important and powerful approach to the reduction of physical theories. Novel to the approach is that it is not based, as usual, on a single reduction concept that is fixed once and for all, but on a series of recursively constructed reductions, with which all reductions appear as combinations of very specific elementary reductions. This leaves the general notion of theory reduction initially open and is beneficial for the treatment of the difficult cases of reduction from the fields of special and general relativity, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics,and quantum mechanics, which are treated in the second volume. The book is systematically organized and intended for readers interested in philosophy of science as well as physicists without deep philosophical knowledge.

This book provides a well-grounded account of the methodology of physics, the structure of physical knowledge and theories, and in particular of the relations between theory and experience. An important feature of the book is that all its essential conclusions are elucidated with the help of representative examples from theoretical, molecular and solid state physics. All young physicists as well as physics teachers will find here valuable insights into the philosophy and tools of their trade.

This book offers insights relevant to modern history and epistemology of physics,mathematics and, indeed, to all the sciences and engineering disciplines emergingof 19th century. This research volume is the first of a set of three Springer books onLazare Nicolas Marguérite Carnot's (1753–1823) remarkable work: Essay on Machines inGeneral (Essai sur les machines en général [1783] 1786). The other two forthcomingvolumes are: Principes fondamentaux de l'équilibre et du mouvement (1803) andGéométrie de position (1803).Lazare Carnot – l'organisateur de la victoire – in Essai sur le machine en général (1786)assumed that the generalization of machines was a necessity for society and its economicdevelopment. Subsequently, his new coming science applied to machines attractedconsiderable interest for technician, as well, already in the 1780's. With no lack inrigour, Carnot used geometric and trigonometric rather than algebraic arguments, andusually went on to explain in words what the formulae contained. His main physical–mathematical concepts were the Geometric motion and Moment of activity–concept ofWork. In particular, he found the invariants of the transmission of motion (by statingthe principle of the moment of the quantity of motion) and theorized the condition ofthe maximum efficiency of mechanical machines (i.e., principle of continuity in thetransmission of power).While the core theme remains the theories and historical studies of the text, the bookcontains an extensive Introduction and an accurate critical English Translation –including the parallel text edition and substantive critical/explicative notes – of Essaisur les machines en général (1786). The authors offer much-needed insight into therelation between mechanics, mathematics and engineering from a conceptual, empiricaland methodological, and universalis point of view. As a cutting–edge writing byleading authorities on the history of physics and mathematics, and epistemologicalaspects, it appeals to historians, epistemologist–philosophers and scientists (physicists, mathematicians and applied sciences and technology).

Quantum mechanics is a physical theory for objects of the microcosm, e.g. for atoms or electrons. It has proven itself so far, but leads to the fact that we have to grant properties and relations to these objects, which are neither compatible with our common sense nor with the concepts of classical physics. These peculiarities are presented and their meaning for our cognitive faculty and for a world view is discussed.This Springer essential is a translation of the original German 1st edition essentials, Über die Merkwürdigkeiten der Quantenmechanik by Josef Honerkamp, published by Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature in 2020. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation. Springer Nature works continuously to further the development of tools for the production of books and on the related technologies to support the authors.

This book presents key works of Boris Hessen, outstanding Soviet philosopher of science, available here in English for the first time. Quality translations are accompanied by an editors'introduction and annotations. Boris Hessen is known in history of science circles for his “Social and Economic Roots of Newton's Principia” presented in London (1931), which inspired new approaches in the West. As a philosopher and a physicist, he was tasked with developing a Marxist approach to science in the 1920s. He studied the history of physics to clarify issues such as reductionism and causality as they applied to new developments. With the philosophers called the “Dialecticians”, his debates with the opposing “Mechanists” on the issue of emergence are still worth studying and largely ignored in the many recent works on this subject. Taken as a whole, the book is a goldmine of insights into both the foundations of physics and Soviet history.

Die Quantenphysik gehört zu den größten wissenschaftlichen Errungenschaften der Menschheit – darüber sind sich Physiker einig. Die Frage nach der Interpretation der Quantenmechanik würde allerdings in einer Prügelei enden. Dieses Buch erzählt die packende Geschichte des Kampfes der Ideen und der mutigen Wissenschaftler, die es wagten, für die Wahrheit einzutreten. Ein Jahrhundert lang sind die meisten Physiker der Kopenhagener Deutung von Niels Bohr gefolgt und haben Fragen über den Realitätsbegriff in der Quantenphysik als bedeutungslos abgetan. Obwohl eine der populärsten Deutungen, ist sie nur ein Mischmasch aus schlechter Argumentation und der Angewohnheit, sich selbst als den einen Beobachter auszuzeichnen. Aber warum hat sie so lange Bestand? Weil Bohrs Studenten sein Vermächtnis energisch verteidigten und die Physikgemeinde sich lieber praktischen Experimenten als philosophischen Diskussionen widmete. Das Resultat: Lange Zeit bedeutete ein Infragestellen des Status quo den wissenschaftlichen Ruin. Und doch haben Physiker wie John Bell, David Bohm und Hugh Everett von den 1920er Jahren bis heute beharrlich nach der wahren Bedeutung der Quantenmechanik gesucht: Bell mit dem Stift und seiner beißenden Kritik, Bohm mit seiner sturen Geringschätzung des Status quo, Everett mit seiner schelmischen Art. Was ist real? ist die unbekannte Geschichte dieser ketzerischen Denker, die das Establishment dazu herausforderten, die Quantenphysik und die Natur der Wirklichkeit neu zu überdenken.

This book introduces a refreshing approach to twenty-first-century scientific approach in an age, which is also known as the Century of Complexity. It deals with the deep problem of complexity, being operative from the bottom-up. The current lack of understanding of complexity has led scholars into the so-called embarrassment of complexity. A long overdue paradigm shift is necessary to address complexity as generative complexity and brings readers to the edge of a scientific revolution: that is, a generative revolution in the Century of Complexity. The book offers a radical shift of paradigm from the paradigm of simplifying into the new generative paradigm of complexifying about processes that develop from the bottom-up. The book links complex generative reality with a corresponding radical new generative nature of order and explores new fronts in science. This book explores innovative concepts of interaction, of causality, of the unit of study, and of reality itself and enables readers to see complexity as generative, emergent complexity as being operative from the bottom-up. The book discusses and suggests solutions for the problem of complexity in this Century of Complexity. The author provides a new understanding of complexity based on a generative flux of forces and relations. The book aims to bring about a fundamental and foundational change in how we view and ‘do'science for an interdisciplinary audience of academics ranging from social science and humanities to economy and biology.

This book describes the historical development of the principle of stationary action from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Reference is made to the most important contributors to this topic, in particular Bernoullis, Leibniz, Euler, Lagrange and Laplace. The leading theme is how the action principle is applied to problems in classical physics such as hydrodynamics, electrodynamics and gravity, extending also to the modern formulation of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, especially quantum electrodynamics. A critical analysis of operator versus c-number field theory is given. The book contains many worked examples. In particular, the term'vacuum'is scrutinized.The book is aimed primarily at actively working researchers, graduate students and historians interested in the philosophical interpretation and evolution of physics; in particular, in understanding the action principle and its application to a wide range of natural phenomena.

Jayme Tiomno (1920-2011) was one of the most influential Brazilian physicists of the 20th century, interacting with many of the renowned physicists of his time, including John Wheeler and Richard Feynman, Eugene Wigner, Chen Ning Yang, David Bohm, Murray Gell-Mann, Remo Ruffini, Abdus Salam, and many others.This biography tells the sometimes romantic, often discouraging but finally optimistic story of a dedicated scientist and educator from a developing country who made important contributions to particle physics, gravitation, cosmology and field theory, and to the advancement of science and of scientific education, in many institutions in Brazil and elsewhere. Drawing on unpublished documents from archives in Brazil and the US as well as private sources, the book traces Tiomno's long life, following his role in the establishment of various research facilities and his tribulations during the Brazilian military dictatorship. It presents a story of progress and setbacks in advancing science in Brazil and beyond, and of the persistence and dedication of a talented physicist who spent his life in search of scientific truth.

This book provides a fascinating insight into the life and scientific work of Laura Bassi, the first female member of the influential Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna and also the first woman to be appointed a university professor in physics, or universal philosophy as it was then termed. The book describes Laura Bassi's research activities and achievements, explaining the influence of Newton, her role in promoting Newtonian experimental physics in Bologna, and her work as an experimentalist, including on electricity. Much attention is paid to the context in which Bassi developed her career. The very considerable difficulties faced by a woman surrounded by male university teachers and members of the Academy are discussed, casting light on the constraints that led Bassi to set up the first experimental physics laboratory in her home, complete with the many instruments required for experimentation and private teaching. The aim is to provide a rounded and well-documentedaccount of the scientific endeavors and achievements of a too often overlooked scientist who struggled to overcome the prejudices of her age.

This book is a tribute to the scientific legacy of GianCarlo Ghirardi, who was one of the most influential scientists in the field of modern foundations of quantum theory. In this appraisal, contributions from friends, collaborators and colleagues reflect the influence of his world of thoughts on theory, experiments and philosophy, while also offering prospects for future research in the foundations of quantum physics. The themes of the contributions revolve around the physical reality of the wave function and its notorious collapse, randomness, relativity and experiments.

In the letters contained in this book, David Bohm argues that the dominant formal, mathematical approach in physics is seriously flawed. In the 1950s and 60s, Bohm took a direction unheard of for a professor of theoretical physics: while still researching in physics, working among others with Yakir Aharanov and later Jeffrey Bub, he also spent time studying “metaphysics”—such as Hegel's dialectics and Indian panpsychism. 50 years on, questions raised about the direction and philosophical assumptions of theoretical physics show that Bohm's arguments still have contemporary relevance.

Julius Schmidt was one of the finest astronomical observers of his time, and his detailed map of the Moon surpassed anything that had come before. Today, the German astronomer and geophysicist has remained a largely neglected figure, despite being one of the most important players in the history of lunar studies. This book at last makes accessible Schmidt's highly regarded German work, Der Mond. Considered an astronomical classic of the nineteenth century, Der Mond remained without a proper English counterpart for the last century and a half, until now. The author's faithful English translation provides readers with much-needed access into Schmidt's original publication, with the aim of showing the community just how vital his work and legacy have been in the international field of selenography.

This book addresses an emblematic case of a potential faith-reason, or faith-science, conflict that never arose, even though the biblical passage in question runs counter to simple common sense. Within the context of Western culture, when one speaks of a faith-science conflict one is referring to cases in which a “new” scientific theory or the results of empirical research call into question what the Bible states on the same subject. Well-known examples include the Copernican theory of planetary motion and the Darwinian theory of evolution. The passage considered in this book, concerning the “waters above the firmament” in the description of the creation in the first book of Genesis, represents a uniquely enlightening case. The author traces the interpretations of this passage from the early centuries of the Christian era to the late Renaissance, and discusses them within their historical context. In the process, he also clarifies the underlying cosmogonic model. Throughout this period, only exegetes belonging to various religious orders discussed the passage's meaning. The fact that it was never debated within the lay culture explains its non-emergence as a faith-reason conflict. A fascinating and highly accessible work, this book will appeal to a broad readership.

This undergraduate textbook introduces some fundamental issues in philosophy of science for students of philosophy and science students. The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 deals with knowledge and values. Chap. 1 presents the classical conception of knowledge as initiated by the ancient Greeks and elaborated during the development of science, introducing the central concepts of truth, belief and justification. Aspects of the quest for objectivity are taken up in the following two chapters. Moral issues are broached in Chap. 4, which discusses some aspects of the use and abuse of science, taking up the responsibilities of scientists in properly conducting their business and decision-makers in their concerns with the import of science for society. Part 2 contrasts the view of scientific progress as the rejecting of old hypotheses and theories and replacing them with new ones, represented by Karl Popper, with the conception of progress as accumulating knowledge, saving as muchas possible from older theories, represented by Pierre Duhem. A concluding chapter defends the natural attitude of taking the theories of modern science to be literally true, i.e. realism, in the face of arguments drawn partly from the history of scientific progress in criticism of this stance.

Die vorliegende Veröffentlichung stellt eine Würdigung der Naturphilosophie und Erkenntnistheorie der Philosophin Grete Henry-Hermann dar. Die Schülerin der Mathematikerin Emmy Noether und des Philosophen Leonard Nelson gehört zu den frühen Interpret(inn)en der Quantenmechanik. Werner Heisenberg setzte ihr in seinem Buch „Der Teil und das Ganze“ ein Denkmal. Erstmals sind in einem Band ihre naturphilosophischen und erkenntnistheoretischen Schriften zusammengefasst. Eine umfangreiche Einleitung verschiedener Autoren führt in das Werk von Grete Henry-Hermann ein. Ergänzt wird diese Ausgabe durch Auszüge aus der Korrespondenz über naturphilosophische und erkenntnistheoretische Themen, darunter auch ein Briefwechsel mit Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, Werner Heisenberg und Gustav Heckmann.Der InhaltGrete Henry-Hermanns Beitrag zur Interpretation Quantenmechanik ● Grete Henry-Hermanns Arbeiten zum Verhältnis von moderner Physik und Transzendentalphilosophie ● Die Dissertation von Grete Hermann: Die Frage der endlich vielen Schritte in der Theorie der Polynomideale (1925) ● Erörterungen zur Frage der Willensfreiheit und zur Bedeutung der Verhaltensforschung für die Kritik der Vernunft ● Auszüge aus dem Briefwechsel aus den Jahren 1925 bis 1982Der HerausgeberProf. Dr. phil. Dipl.-Phys. Kay Herrmann ist Außerplanmäßiger Professor an der Technischen Universität Chemnitz. Er lehrt dort Wissenschaftstheorie.

This comprehensive volume gives a balanced and systematic treatment of both the interpretation and the mathematical-conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics. It is written in a pedagogical style and addresses many thorny problems of fundamental physics.The first aspect concerns Interpretation. The author raises the central problems: formalism, measurement, non-locality, and causality. The main positions on these subjects are presented and critically analysed. The aim is to show that the main schools can converge on a core interpretation. The second aspect concerns Foundations. Here it is shown that the whole theory can be grounded on information theory. The distinction between information and signal leads us to integrating quantum mechanics and relativity. Category theory is presented and its significance for quantum information shown; the logic and epistemological bases of the theory are assessed.Of relevance to all physicists and philosophers with an interest in quantum theory and its foundations, this book is destined to become a classic work.

This book presents the first English translation of the original French treatise “La Physique d'Einstein” written by the young Georges Lemaître in 1922, only six years after the publication of Albert Einstein's theory of General Relativity. It includes an historical introduction and a critical edition of the original treatise in French supplemented by the author's own later additions and corrections. Monsignor Georges Lemaître can be considered the founder of the “Big Bang Theory” and a visionary architect of modern Cosmology. The scientific community is only beginning to grasp the full extent of the legacy of this towering figure of 20th century physics. Against the best advice of the greatest names of his time, the young Lemaître was convinced, solely through the study of Einstein's theory of General Relativity, that space and time must have had a beginning with a tremendous “Big Bang” from a “quantum primeval atom” resulting in an ever-expanding Universe with a positive cosmological constant. But how did the young Lemaître, essentially on his own, come to grips with the physics of Einstein? A year before his ordination as a diocesan priest, he submitted the audacious treatise, published in this book, that was to earn him Fellowships to study at Cambridge, MIT and Harvard, and launched him on a scientific path of ground-breaking discoveries. Almost a century after Lemaître's seminal publications of 1927 and 1931, this highly pedagogical treatise is still of timely interest to young minds and remains of great value from a history of science perspective.

“Tell me,'Wittgenstein once asked a friend,'why do people always say, it was natural for man to assume that the sun went round the earth rather than that the earth was rotating?'His friend replied,'Well, obviously because it just looks as though the Sun is going round the Earth.'Wittgenstein replied,'Well, what would it have looked like if it had looked as though the Earth was rotating?” What would it have looked like if we looked at all sciences from the viewpoint of Wittgenstein's philosophy? Wittgenstein is undoubtedly one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. His complex body of work has been analysed by numerous scholars, from mathematicians and physicists, to philosophers, linguists, and beyond. This volume brings together some of his central perspectives as applied to the modern sciences and studies the influence they may have on the thought processes underlying science and on the world view it engenders. The contributions stem from leading scholars in philosophy, mathematics, physics, economics, psychology and human sciences; all of them have written in an accessible style that demands little specialist knowledge, whilst clearly portraying and discussing the deep issues at hand.