The Path To Post Galilean Epistemology

Author : Danilo Capecchi
Publisher : Springer
Page : 533 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2017-07-08
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9783319583105

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The Path to Post-Galilean Epistemology by Danilo Capecchi Pdf

This book casts new light on the process that in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries led to a profound transformation in the study of nature with the emergence of mechanistic philosophy, the new mixed mathematics, and the establishment of the experimental approach. It is argued that modern European science originated from Hellenistic mathematics not so much because of rediscovery of the latter but rather because its “applied” components, namely mechanics, optics, harmonics, and astronomy, and their methodologies continued to be transmitted throughout the Middle Ages without serious interruption. Furthermore, it is proposed that these “applied” components played a role in their entirety; thus, for example, “new” mechanics derived not only from “old” mechanics but also from harmonics, optics, and astronomy. Unlike other texts on the subject, the role of mathematicians is stressed over that of philosophers of nature and the focus is particularly on epistemological aspects. In exploring Galilean and post-Galilean epistemology, attention is paid to the contributions of Galileo’s disciples and also the impact of his enemies. The book will appeal to both historians of science and scientists.

Author : Danilo Capecchi
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 567 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2020-08-25
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9783030528522

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Epistemology and Natural Philosophy in the 18th Century by Danilo Capecchi Pdf

This book documents the process of transformation from natural philosophy, which was considered the most important of the sciences until the early modern era, into modern disciplines such as mathematics, physics, natural history, chemistry, medicine and engineering. It focuses on the 18th century, which has often been considered uninteresting for the history of science, representing the transition from the age of genius and the birth of modern science (the 17th century) to the age of prodigious development in the 19th century. Yet the 18th century, the century of Enlightenment, as will be demonstrated here, was in fact characterized by substantial ferment and novelty. To make the text more accessible, little emphasis has been placed on the precise genesis of the various concepts and methods developed in scientific enterprises, except when doing so was necessary to make them clear. For the sake of simplicity, in several situations reference is made to the authors who are famous today, such as Newton, the Bernoullis, Euler, d’Alembert, Lagrange, Lambert, Volta et al. – not necessarily because they were the most creative and original minds, but mainly because their writings represent a synthesis of contemporary and past studies. The above names should, therefore, be considered more labels of a period than references to real historical characters.

Author : Marco Ceccarelli
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 392 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2024-06-03
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9783031548765

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Explorations in the History and Heritage of Machines and Mechanisms by Marco Ceccarelli Pdf

Author : Andrea Strazzoni
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 755 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2019-11-18
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9783030198787

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Burchard de Volder and the Age of the Scientific Revolution by Andrea Strazzoni Pdf

This monograph details the entire scientific thought of an influential natural philosopher whose contributions, unfortunately, have become obscured by the pages of history. Readers will discover an important thinker: Burchard de Volder. He was instrumental in founding the first experimental cabinet at a European University in 1675. The author goes beyond the familiar image of De Volder as a forerunner of Newtonianism in Continental Europe. He consults neglected materials, including handwritten sources, and takes into account new historiographical categories. His investigation maps the thought of an author who did not sit with an univocal philosophical school, but critically dealt with all the ‘major’ philosophers and scientists of his age: from Descartes to Newton, via Spinoza, Boyle, Huygens, Bernoulli, and Leibniz. It explores the way De Volder’s un-systematic thought used, rejected, and re-shaped their theories and approaches. In addition, the title includes transcriptions of De Volder's teaching materials: disputations, dictations, and notes. Insightful analysis combined with a trove of primary source material will help readers gain a new perspective on a thinker so far mostly ignored by scholars. They will find a thoughtful figure who engaged with early modern science and developed a place that fostered experimental philosophy.

Author : Jocelyn Holland
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 224 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2019-05-30
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781501346071

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The Lever as Instrument of Reason by Jocelyn Holland Pdf

The lever appears to be a very simple object, a tool used since ancient times for the most primitive of tasks: to lift and to balance. Why, then, were prominent intellectuals active around 1800 in areas as diverse as science, philosophy, and literature inspired to think and write about levers? In The Lever as Instrument of Reason, readers will discover the remarkable ways in which the lever is used to model the construction of knowledge and to mobilize new ideas among diverse disciplines. These acts of construction are shown to model key aspects of the human, from the more abstract processes of moral decision-making to a quite literal equation of the powerful human ego with the supposed stability and power of the fulcrum point.

Author : Vincenzo Vullo
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 246 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2020-02-14
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9783030401641

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Gears by Vincenzo Vullo Pdf

This book provides a compact history of gears, by summarizing the main stages of their development and the corresponding gradual acquisition of engineering expertise, from the antiquity to the Renaissance and the twentieth century. This brief history makes no claim to be exhaustive, since the topic is so extensive, complex and fascinating that it deserves an entire encyclopedia. Despite its brevity, the book debunks a number of popular misconceptions, such as the belief that the first literary description of a gear was supplied by Aristotle. It disproves not only this myth, but also other peremptory statements and/or axiomatic assumptions that have no basis in written documents, archaeological findings or other factual evidence. The book is chiefly intended for students and lecturers, historians of science and scientists, and all those who want to learn about the genesis and evolution of this topic.

Author : Anthony O'Hear
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 382 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0521138574

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Conceptions of Philosophy by Anthony O'Hear Pdf

The Royal Institute of Philosophy has challenged distinguished philosophers to reflect on the nature, scope and possibility of philosophy.

Author : Maurice Finocchiaro
Publisher : Springer
Page : 350 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2012-05-04
Category : Science
ISBN : 9400731647

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Defending Copernicus and Galileo by Maurice Finocchiaro Pdf

Although recent works on Galileo’s trial have reached new heights of erudition, documentation, and sophistication, they often exhibit inflated complexities, neglect 400 years of historiography, or make little effort to learn from Galileo. This book strives to avoid such lacunae by judiciously comparing and contrasting the two Galileo affairs, that is, the original controversy over the earth’s motion ending with his condemnation by the Inquisition in 1633, and the subsequent controversy over the rightness of that condemnation continuing to our day. The book argues that the Copernican Revolution required that the hypothesis of the earth’s motion be not only constructively supported with new reasons and evidence, but also critically defended from numerous old and new objections. This defense in turn required not only the destructive refutation, but also the appreciative understanding of those objections in all their strength. A major Galilean accomplishment was to elaborate such a reasoned, critical, and fair-minded defense of Copernicanism. Galileo’s trial can be interpreted as a series of ecclesiastic attempts to stop him from so defending Copernicus. And an essential thread of the subsequent controversy has been the emergence of many arguments claiming that his condemnation was right, as well as defenses of Galileo from such criticisms. The book’s particular yet overarching thesis is that today the proper defense of Galileo can and should have the reasoned, critical, and fair-minded character which his own defense of Copernicus had.

Author : Jochen Büttner
Publisher : Springer
Page : 472 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2019-08-08
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9789402415940

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Swinging and Rolling by Jochen Büttner Pdf

This volume explores the reorganisation of knowledge taking place in the course of Galileo's research process extending over a period of more than thirty years, pursued within a network of exchanges with his contemporaries, and documented by a vast collection of research notes. It has revealed the challenging objects that motivated and shaped Galileo's thinking and closely followed the knowledge reorganization engendered by theses challenges. It has thus turned out, for example, that the problem of reducing the properties of pendulum motion to the laws governing naturally accelerated motion on inclined planes was the mainspring for the formation of Galileo's comprehensive theory of naturally accelerated motion.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Elsevier
Page : 357 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2008-06-17
Category : Science
ISBN : 0080569889

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The Ontology of Spacetime II by Anonim Pdf

The sixteen papers collected in this volume are expanded and revised versions of talks delivered at the Second International Conference on the Ontology of Spacetime, organized by the International Society for the Advanced Study of Spacetime (John Earman, President) at Concordia University (Montreal) from 9 to 11 June 2006. Most chapters are devoted to subjects directly relating to the ontology of spacetime. The book starts with four papers that discuss the ontological status of spacetime and the processes occurring in it from a point of view that is first of all conceptual and philosophical. The focus then slightly shifts in the five papers that follow, to considerations more directly involving technical considerations from relativity theory. After this, Time, Becoming and Change take centre stage in the next five papers. The book ends with two excursions into relatively uncharted territory: a consideration of the status of Kaluza-Klein theory, and an investigation of possible relations between the nature of spacetime and condensed matter physics, respectively. Space and time in present-day physics and philosophy Relatively low level of technicality, easily accessible Introduction from scratch of the debates surrounding time Broad spectrum of approaches, coherently represented

Author : Paul Boghossian
Publisher : Clarendon Press
Page : 160 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2007-10-11
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780191622755

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Fear of Knowledge by Paul Boghossian Pdf

The academic world has been plagued in recent years by scepticism about truth and knowledge. Paul Boghossian, in his long-awaited first book, sweeps away relativist claims that there is no such thing as objective truth or knowledge, but only truth or knowledge from a particular perspective. He demonstrates clearly that such claims don't even make sense. Boghossian focuses on three different ways of reading the claim that knowledge is socially constructed - one as a thesis about truth and two about justification. And he rejects all three. The intuitive, common-sense view is that there is a way things are that is independent of human opinion, and that we are capable of arriving at belief about how things are that is objectively reasonable, binding on anyone capable of appreciating the relevant evidence regardless of their social or cultural perspective. Difficult as these notions may be, it is a mistake to think that recent philosophy has uncovered powerful reasons for rejecting them. This short, lucid, witty book shows that philosophy provides rock-solid support for common sense against the relativists; it will prove provocative reading throughout the discipline and beyond.

Author : Joseph Donald Novak
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 560 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 1987
Category : Concept learning
ISBN : CORNELL:31924067884118

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Proceedings of the Second International Seminar, Misconceptions and Educational Strategies in Science and Mathematics, July 26-29, 1987, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA by Joseph Donald Novak Pdf

Author : Roger Silverstone
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 226 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2013-04-18
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780745657875

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Media and Morality by Roger Silverstone Pdf

Roger Silverstone's compelling new book places the global media at the heart of the moral future of civilisation. It argues that the media (the press, broadcasting, the Internet and increasingly peer-to-peer technologies and networks) have a profound significance for the way in which the world is understood by its citizens. It also argues that without a clear understanding of that significance, and without a critique of the way in which the media go about their daily business, we are likely to see an erosion in the capacity of human beings to understand and respect each other, especially those whom they see and hear only in their mediation. In a world of increasing polarisation and demonisation, the media have a powerful role to play. They can reinforce or they can challenge that polarisation. The book proposes that we should think of the global media as a mediapolis, a single space of political and social communication, in which the basis for the relationships between neighbours and strangers can be either constructed or destroyed. The mediapolis is a moral space, a space of hospitality, responsibility, obligation and judgement. And questioning its present and future requires attention to issues of media justice, media literacy and media regulation. Media and Morality is essential reading for all students and scholars of the media but will be of equal fascination to anyone interested in the workings of our modern world.

Author : Richard Tarnas
Publisher : Ballantine Books
Page : 560 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2011-10-19
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780307804525

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Passion of the Western Mind by Richard Tarnas Pdf

"[This] magnificent critical survey, with its inherent respect for both the 'Westt's mainstream high culture' and the 'radically changing world' of the 1990s, offers a new breakthrough for lay and scholarly readers alike....Allows readers to grasp the big picture of Western culture for the first time." SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE Here are the great minds of Western civilization and their pivotal ideas, from Plato to Hegel, from Augustine to Nietzsche, from Copernicus to Freud. Richard Tarnas performs the near-miracle of describing profound philosophical concepts simply but without simplifying them. Ten years in the making and already hailed as a classic, THE PASSION OF THE WESERN MIND is truly a complete liberal education in a single volume.

Author : Ulrich Majer,Heinz-Jürgen Schmidt
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 165 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2013-03-14
Category : Science
ISBN : 9789401728720

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Reflections on Spacetime by Ulrich Majer,Heinz-Jürgen Schmidt Pdf

REFLECTIONS ON SPACETIME - FOUNDATIONS, PHILOSOPHY AND HISTORY During the academic year 1992/93, an interdisciplinary research group constituted itself at the Zentrum fUr interdisziplinare Forschung (ZiF) in Bielefeld, Germany, under the title 'Semantical Aspects of Spacetime Theories', in which philosophers and physicists worked on topics in the interpretation and history of relativity theory. The present issue consists of contributions resulting from material presented and discussed in the group during the course of that year. The scope of the papers ranges from rather specialised issues arising from general relativity such as the problem of referential indeterminacy, to foundational questions regarding spacetime in the work of Carnap, Weyl and Hilbert. It is well known that the General Theory of Relativity (GTR) admits spacetime models which are 'exotic' in the sense that observers could travel into their own past. This poses a number of problems for the physical interpretation of GTR which are also relevant in the philosophy of spacetime. It is not enough to exclude these exotic models simply by stating that we live in a non-exotic universe, because it might be possible to "operate time machines" by actively changing the topology of the future part of spacetime. In his contribution, Earman first reviews the attempts of physicists to prove "chronology protection theorems" (CPTs) which exclude the operation of time machines under reasonable assumptions.