Forces and Fields The Concept of Action at a

An in-depth look at the science of ancient Greece, this volume examines the influence of antique philosophy on 17th-century thought. Additional topics embrace many elements of modern physics: the empirical basis of quantum mechanics, wave-particle duality and the uncertainty principle, and the action-at-a-distance theory of Wheeler and Feynman. 1961 edition.

The Logical Status of Theories

Physics and epistemology

1

(2)

A realist view of theories

3

(3)

Operationalism

6

(2)

The hypothetico-deductive method and falsifiability

8

(5)

The dictionary theory

13

(8)

Models

21

(8)

The Primitive Analogies

Analogies in primitive scientific explanation

29

(5)

Nature as `Thou': indefiniteness of the problem of interaction

34

(5)

The Pre-Socratics: distinction between matter and force

39

(3)

Atomism

42

(4)

Immaterial causes

46

(5)

Mechanism in Greek Science

Mechanical analogies among the cosmologists and medical writers

51

(3)

The horror vacui and antiperistasis

54

(6)

Aristotle : matter and form and the primary qualities

60

(3)

Aristotle : theory of motion and change

63

(4)

Aristotle : the principle of action by contact

67

(3)

Aristotle : the unmoved first mover

70

(4)

The Greek Inheritance

The primitive analogies in medieval belief

74

(3)

The emanation theories

77

(2)

Multiplication of species

79

(3)

The theory of vacuum-suction

82

(4)

Gilbert's De Magnete

86

(5)

Francis Bacon's classification of actions at a distance

91

(7)

The Corpuscular Philosophy

Falsifiability as a seventeenth-century criterion for theories

98

(4)

Descartes's mechanical continuum

102

(6)

Descartes's method

108

(4)

Corpuscular and medium theories

112

(9)

Locke on the mechanical philosophy

121

(5)

The Theory of Gravitation

Gravity as internal tendency or external attraction

126

(3)

The planetary orbits

129

(5)

An analysis of Newton's laws of motion

134

(10)

Universal gravitation as a mathematical law

144

(4)

Universal gravitation as a physical hypothesis

148

(5)

Newton's atomism and active principles

153

(4)

Action at a Distance

Leibniz's attack on action at a distance

157

(6)

Philosophical justifications of action at a distance

163

(7)

Kant : The Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science

170

(3)

Kant : infinite divisibility of matter as a regulative principle

173

(3)

Kant : attraction and repulsion

176

(4)

Elastic fluid theories in physics and chemistry

180

(9)

The Field Theories

Euler's hydrodynamics

189

(6)

Criteria for continuous contact-action

195

(3)

Faraday : the physical nature of lines of force

198

(5)

Faraday : criteria for action at a distance

203

(3)

Maxwell : mechanical and field theories of continuous action

206

(6)

Hertz: interpretations of Maxwell's equations

212

(4)

The Continental action-at-a-distance school

216

(6)

Gravitation

222

(4)

The Theory of Relativity

Interpretations of the Michelson-Morley experiment

226

(9)

Consequences of the Lorentz transformation

235

(4)

Milne's action-at-a-distance theory

239

(6)

Einstein's theory of gravitation

245

(8)

Conventional and factual aspects of geometry

253

(6)

Modern Physics

The empirical basis of quantum mechanics

259

(4)

The wave-particle duality and uncertainty principle

263

(4)

Sub-quantum theories

267

(3)

Modes of action in the quantum field

270

(5)

The meson and Maxwell fields

275

(4)

The action-at-a-distance theory of Wheeler and Feynman

279

(6)

Reversibility of cause and effect

285

(5)

The Metaphysical Framework of Physics

Some heuristic and metaphysical considerations

290

(5)

Theoretical aspects of extrasensory perception

295

(10)

Appendix I

305

(1)

Appendix II

306

(2)

Bibliography

308

(5)

Index of Proper Names

313

(3)

Index of Subjects

316

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Forces and Fields The Concept of Action at a Distance in the History of Physics

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