Research records composed of notes and protocols have long played a role in the efforts to understand the origins of what have come to be seen as the established milestones in the development of modern science. The use of research records to probe the nature of scientific investigation itself however is a recent development in the history of science. With Eduard Dijksterhuis, we could address them as a veritable "epistemologiCal laboratory." The purpose of a workshop entitled "Reworking the Bench: Laboratory Notebooks in the History of Science," held at the Max Planck Institute for the...
Research records composed of notes and protocols have long played a role in the efforts to understand the origins of what have come to be seen as the ...
The Alfonsine Tables of Toledo is for historians working in the fields of astronomy, science, the Middle Ages, Spanish and other Romance languages. It is also of interest to scholars interested in the history of Castile, in Castilian-French relations in the Middle Ages and in the history of patronage. It explores the Castilian canons of the Alfonsine Tables and offers a study of their context, language, astronomical content, and diffusion.
The Alfonsine Tables of Toledo is unique in that it: includes an edition of a crucial text in history of...
The Alfonsine Tables of Toledo is for historians working in the fields of astronomy, science, the Middle Ages, Spanish and other R...
David Hilbert (1862-1943) was the most influential mathematician of the early twentieth century and, together with Henri Poincare, the last mathematical universalist. His main known areas of research and influence were in pure mathematics (algebra, number theory, geometry, integral equations and analysis, logic and foundations), but he was also known to have some interest in physical topics. The latter, however, was traditionally conceived as comprising only sporadic incursions into a scientific domain which was essentially foreign to his mainstream of activity and in which he only made...
David Hilbert (1862-1943) was the most influential mathematician of the early twentieth century and, together with Henri Poincare, the last mathema...
The rapidity with which knowledge changes makes much of past science obsolete, and often just wrong, from the present's point of view. We no longer think, for example, that heat is a material substance transferred from hot to cold bodies. But is wrong science always or even usually bad science? The essays in this volume argue by example that much of the past's rejected science, wrong in retrospect though it may be - and sometimes markedly so - was nevertheless sound and exemplary of enduring standards that transcend the particularities of culture and locale.
The rapidity with which knowledge changes makes much of past science obsolete, and often just wrong, from the present's point of view. We no longer...
Focusing on Hermann von Helmholtz, this study addresses one of the nineteenth century's most important German natural scientists. Among his most well-known contributions to science are the invention of the ophthalmoscope and grou- breaking work towards formulating the law of the conservation of energy. The volume of his work, reaching from medicine to physiology to physics and epis- mology, his impact on the development of the sciences far beyond German borders, and the contribution he made to the organization and popularization of research, all established Helmholtz's prominence both in the...
Focusing on Hermann von Helmholtz, this study addresses one of the nineteenth century's most important German natural scientists. Among his most well-...
The distinction between the contexts of discovery and justification has left a turbulent wake in the philosophy of science. This book recognizes the need to re-open the debate about the nature, development, and significance of the context distinction, about its merits and flaws. The discussion clears the ground for the productive and fruitful integration of these new developments into philosophy of science.
The distinction between the contexts of discovery and justification has left a turbulent wake in the philosophy of science. This book recognizes th...
This book is based on a doctoral thesis submitted to the University of Bern in thesummerof2002. Researchonthethesiswasmadepossiblethroughagrant provided by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) from 2000 to 2002 foraprojectonthehistoryandepistemologyofscienti?cillustrations(Project No. 1152-059499). Gerd Graho? headed this programme at the University of Bern and made my reworking of the thesis into a book in English possible. He also provided the funding for the services of a professional copy editor (Margareta Simons, Bern)....
This book is based on a doctoral thesis submitted to the University of Bern in thesummerof2002. Researchonthethesiswasmadepossiblethroughagrant provid...
All technologies differ from one another. They are as varied as humanity's interaction with the physical world. Even people attempting to do the same thing produce multiple technologies. For example, John H. White discovered more than l 1000 patents in the 19th century for locomotive smokestacks. Yet all technologies are processes by which humans seek to control their physical environment and bend nature to their purposes. All technologies are alike. The tension between likeness and difference runs through this collection of papers. All focus on atmospheric flight, a twentieth-century...
All technologies differ from one another. They are as varied as humanity's interaction with the physical world. Even people attempting to do the same ...
In this monograph, Steffen Ducheyne provides a historically detailed and systematically rich explication of Newton's methodology. Throughout the pages of this book, it will be shown that Newton developed a complex natural-philosophical methodology which encompasses procedures to minimize inductive risk during the process of theory formation and which, thereby, surpasses a standard hypothetico-deductive methodological setting. Accordingly, it will be highlighted that the so-called 'Newtonian Revolution' was not restricted to the empirical and theoretical dimensions of science, but applied...
In this monograph, Steffen Ducheyne provides a historically detailed and systematically rich explication of Newton's methodology. Throughout the pa...
Profiles the eminent 18th century natural philosopher Henry Cavendish, best known for his work in chemistry and physics and one of the most baffling personalities in the history of science. In these chapters we are introduced to the psychology of science and of scientists and we learn about Cavendish's life and times. His personality is examined from two perspectives: one is that he had a less severe form of autism, as has been claimed; the other is that he was eccentric and a psychological disorder was absent.
Henry Cavendish lived a life of science, possibly more completely than...
Profiles the eminent 18th century natural philosopher Henry Cavendish, best known for his work in chemistry and physics and one of the most bafflin...
