This book presents a collection of texts by the German physicist and philosopher Carl Friedrich von Weizsacker (1912-2007), for use in seminars on the history, epistemology and structure of physics. Most texts appear in English for the first time. Weizsacker became famous through his works in physics, mainly in the early development of nuclear physics. Later he would also become well known as a philosopher and analyst of contemporary culture. Texts include the original publications of the "Weizsacker-Bethe formula" of nuclear masses and the "Bethe-Weizsacker cycle," which explains the source...

This book presents a collection of texts by the German philosopher and physicist Carl Friedrich von Weizsacker (1912-2007), for use in seminars on philosophy, mainly epistemology and the philosophy of physics or foundations of quantum mechanics, but also for courses on German philosophy of the 20th century or the philosophy of science. Most texts appear in English for the first time. Weizsacker became famous through his works in physics, later becoming well known as a philosopher and an analyst of contemporary culture and politics. He worked intensively on projects for the prevention of...