Interpreting Physics - Language and the Classical/Quantum Divide

This book is the first to offer a systematic account of the role of language in the development and interpretation of physics. An historical-conceptual analysis of the co-evolution of mathematical and physical concepts leads to the classical/quatum interface. Bohrian orthodoxy stresses the indispensability of classical concepts and the functional role of mathematics. This book analyses ways of extending, and then going beyond this orthodoxy orthodoxy. Finally, the book analyzes how a revised interpretation of physics impacts on basic philosophical issues: conceptual revolutions, realism, and reductionism.

List of contents

Preface, 1. A Philosphical Overview; 2. From Categories to Quantative Concepts; 3. The Unification of Classical Physics; 4. Classical Physics; 5. Orthodox Quantum Mechanics; 6. Beyond a Minimal Basis; 7. Interpreting Physics

Summary

This book is the first to offer a systematic account of the role of language in the development and interpretation of physics. An historical-conceptual analysis of the co-evolution of mathematical and physical concepts leads to the classical/quatum interface. Bohrian orthodoxy stresses the indispensability of classical concepts and the functional role of mathematics. This book analyses ways of extending, and then going beyond this orthodoxy orthodoxy. Finally, the book analyzes how a revised interpretation of physics impacts on basic philosophical issues: conceptual revolutions, realism, and reductionism.

Product details

• Authors: Edward MacKinnon
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.12.2011
• EAN: 9789400723689
• ISBN: 978-94-0-072368-9
• No. of pages: 270
• Weight: 562 g
• Illustrations: XIV, 270 p.
• Series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science; Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science; Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science; Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; B, History, Philosophy of Science, History of Science, Physics, Physics and Astronomy, Physics, general, Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and science, Mathematics and science