Download or read book Physics and Necessity written by Olivier Darrigol and published by Oxford University Press (UK). This book was released on 2014 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book recounts a few ingenious attempts to derive physical theories by reason only, beginning with Descartes' geometric construction of the world, and finishing with recent derivations of quantum mechanics from natural axioms.
Download or read book Physics for Mathematicians written by Michael Spivak and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 733 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Nature of Contingency written by Alastair Wilson and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020-01-30 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book defends a radical new theory of contingency as a physical phenomenon. Drawing on the many-worlds approach to quantum theory and cutting-edge metaphysics and philosophy of science, it argues that quantum theories are best understood as telling us about the space of genuine possibilities, rather than as telling us solely about actuality. When quantum physics is taken seriously in the way first proposed by Hugh Everett III, it provides the resources for a new systematic metaphysical framework encompassing possibility, necessity, actuality, chance, counterfactuals, and a host of related modal notions. Rationalist metaphysicians argue that the metaphysics of modality is strictly prior to any scientific investigation; metaphysics establishes which worlds are possible, and physics merely checks which of these worlds is actual. Naturalistic metaphysicians respond that science may discover new possibilities and new impossibilities. This book's quantum theory of contingency takes naturalistic metaphysics one step further, allowing that science may discover what it is to be possible. As electromagnetism revealed the nature of light, as acoustics revealed the nature of sound, as statistical mechanics revealed the nature of heat, so quantum physics reveals the nature of contingency.
Download or read book Necessity and Teleology in Aristotle s Physics written by Jacob Rosen and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some of Aristotle's arguments for teleology involve a distinction between two ways of being necessary: it seems that being necessary in one of these ways precludes being for the sake of something, while being necessary in the other way entails it. This second way, which consists in being necessary for the achievement of an end, is occasionally (six times in all) referred to as a matter of "hypothetical" ( 3 'xu `poq 3&d12;s3w v ) necessity. I inquire into the meaning of this phrase, beginning with a survey of the uses to which Aristotle, throughout his writings, puts the notion of a hypothesis. One upshot is that "hypothetically necessary" ought simply to mean necessary on an assumption, where (nearly enough) q is necessary on the assumption that p iff (i) not necessarily q and (ii) necessarily, if p then q. The only passage where it is really difficult to understand the phrase this way---where one is tempted to think it needs a richer meaning, such as necessary for the achievement of an end---is the first half of Physics II.9. I offer a close reading of this passage, one of whose virtues is that it preserves the phrase's broad, straightforward meaning. Finally I consider how widely hypothetical necessity, thus broadly interpreted, reaches in the natural world according to Aristotle. I suggest that there is rather less of it than is generally supposed: this partly explains why it is called by name only in connection with end-related cases. Regarding the anti-teleological kind of necessity---which might appear to involve necessitation of later states by antecedent conditions, and so to be a species of hypothetical necessity---I argue that it is not something we would call necessity at all. I work to elucidate what it is, as well as why and how far it is incompatible with teleological relations.
Download or read book Between Necessity and Probability Searching for the Definition and Origin of Life written by Radu Popa and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2004-02-20 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Systematically explores the early origins and basic definition of life. Investigates the major theories of the origins of life in light of modern research with the aim of distinguishing between the necessary and the optional and between deterministic and random influences in the emergence of what we call ‘life.’ Treats and views life as a cosmic phenomenon whose emergence and driving force should be viewed independently from its Earth-bound natural history. Synthesizes all the fundamental life-related developments in a comprehensive scenario, and makes the argument that understanding life in its broadest context requires a material-independent perspective that identifies its essential fingerprints
Download or read book Philosophy of Physics written by David Wallace and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Philosophy of physics is concerned with the deepest theories of modern physics - quantum theory, our theories of space, time and symmetry, and thermal physics - and their strange, even bizarre conceptual implications. This book explores the core topics in philosophy of physics, and discusses their relevance for both scientists and philosophers.
Download or read book Determinism and Free Will written by Fabio Scardigli and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-01-22 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this small book, theoretical physicist Gerard 't Hooft (Nobel prize 1999), philosopher Emanuele Severino (Lincei Academician), and theologian Piero Coda (Pontifical Lateran University) confront one another on a topic that lies at the roots of quantum mechanics and at the origin of Western thought: Determinism and Free Will. "God does not play dice" said Einstein, a tenacious determinist. Quantum Mechanics and its clash with General Relativity have reanimated ancient dilemmas about chance and necessity: Is Nature deterministic? Is Man free? The “free-will theorem” by Conway and Kochen, and the deterministic interpretation of quantum mechanics proposed by 't Hooft, revive such philosophical questions in modern Physics. Is Becoming real? Is the Elementary Event a product of the Case? The cyclopean clash between Heraclitus and Parmenides has entered a new episode, as evidenced by the essays in this volume.
Download or read book Believing Is Seeing written by Michael Guillen, PhD and published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is your worldview enlightened enough to accommodate both science and God at the same time? Dr. Michael Guillen, a best-selling author, Emmy award–winning journalist and former physics instructor at Harvard, used to be an Atheist—until science changed his mind. Once of the opinion that people of faith are weak, small-minded folks who just don’t understand science, Dr. Guillen ultimately concluded that not only does science itself depend on faith, but faith is actually the mightiest power in the universe. In Believing Is Seeing, Dr. Guillen recounts the fascinating story of his journey from Atheism to Christianity, citing the latest discoveries in neuroscience, physics, astronomy, and mathematics to pull back the curtain on the mystery of faith as no one ever has. Is it true that “seeing is believing?” Or is it possible that reality can be perceived most clearly with the eyes of faith—and that truth is bigger than proof? Let Dr. Guillen be your guide as he brilliantly argues for a large and enlightened worldview consistent with both God and modern science.
Download or read book How Physics Makes Us Free written by J. T. Ismael and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-02-03 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1687 Isaac Newton ushered in a new scientific era in which laws of nature could be used to predict the movements of matter with almost perfect precision. Newton's physics also posed a profound challenge to our self-understanding, however, for the very same laws that keep airplanes in the air and rivers flowing downhill tell us that it is in principle possible to predict what each of us will do every second of our entire lives, given the early conditions of the universe. Can it really be that even while you toss and turn late at night in the throes of an important decision and it seems like the scales of fate hang in the balance, that your decision is a foregone conclusion? Can it really be that everything you have done and everything you ever will do is determined by facts that were in place long before you were born? This problem is one of the staples of philosophical discussion. It is discussed by everyone from freshman in their first philosophy class, to theoretical physicists in bars after conferences. And yet there is no topic that remains more unsettling, and less well understood. If you want to get behind the façade, past the bare statement of determinism, and really try to understand what physics is telling us in its own terms, read this book. The problem of free will raises all kinds of questions. What does it mean to make a decision, and what does it mean to say that our actions are determined? What are laws of nature? What are causes? What sorts of things are we, when viewed through the lenses of physics, and how do we fit into the natural order? Ismael provides a deeply informed account of what physics tells us about ourselves. The result is a vision that is abstract, alien, illuminating, and-Ismael argues-affirmative of most of what we all believe about our own freedom. Written in a jargon-free style, How Physics Makes Us Free provides an accessible and innovative take on a central question of human existence.
Download or read book The Necessity Of Friction written by Nordal Akerman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-02-05 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Friction is what keeps us from realizing our goals. It is what compromises all of our plans, sometimes making them unrecognizable. It defies our wish for perfection and constantly surprises us with new elements of resistance. It constitutes the divide between dream and reality.But friction is also what gets us moving, a necessary incentive to achieve progress. Nothing can start if it cannot push off something else. By blocking or delaying the easy solution, friction makes for a richer, more varied world. If it stops schemes from being completely fulfilled, it also stops them form going totally awry.To the modernist project, with its one-sided rationalist pretensions, friction is unambiguously bad?and so it is being disposed of at an increasing speed. The currency markets are one example, cyberspace another. This means less and less time to pause and rethink, while the vulnerability of societies is aggravated. In The Necessity of Friction, scholars tackle this topical and important concept. A number of scientific fields are engaged: physics, philosophy, economics, architecture, organizational theory, artificial intelligence, and others. Together, these contributions form the first modern-day attempt at analyzing the intriguing yet elusive subject of friction as metaphor.
Download or read book Image and Logic written by Peter Galison and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1997-10 with total page 1002 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Engages with the impact of modern technology on experimental physicists. This study reveals how the increasing scale and complexity of apparatus has distanced physicists from the very science which drew them into experimenting, and has fragmented microphysics into different technical traditions.
Download or read book Of the necessity to reduce all phenomena into the one dimensional time written by Anna Laura Dyczynski and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2018-10-01 with total page 27 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientific Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Philosophy - Theoretical (Realisation, Science, Logic, Language), grade: 1,2, Technical University of Darmstadt (Prof. A. Nordmann, Fakultät Philosophie), language: English, abstract: The often-impenetrable realized models of modern physics and philosophy drive me to find the sober origin of the schism. I therefore wish to realize my thoughts of physics and space. My aim is to examine time in different ways and our sensual-related consciousness of its flow over philosophical considerations and afterwards of physical ones, both denominating truth, and finding them summarized into a common correlation and affinity.
Download or read book Physics written by Aristotle and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The eighth book of Aristotle's Physics is the culmination of his theory of nature. He discusses not just physics, but the origins of the universe and the metaphysical foundations of cosmology and physical science. He moves from the discussion of motion in the cosmos to the identification of a single source and regulating principle of all motion, and so argues for the existence of a first 'unmoved mover'. Daniel Graham offers a clear, accurate new translation of this key text in the history of Western thought, and accompanies the translation with a careful philosophical commentary to guide the reader towards an understanding of the wealth of important and influential arguments and ideas that Aristotle puts forward.
Download or read book A Complete Course on Theoretical Physics written by Albrecht Lindner and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-12-30 with total page 638 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kompakt und verständlich führt dieses Lehrbuch in die Grundlagen der theoretischen Physik ein. Dabei werden die üblichen Themen der Grundvorlesungen Mechanik, Elektrodynamik, Relativitätstheorie, Quantenmechanik , Thermodynamik und Statistik in einem Band zusammengefasst, um den Zusammenhang zwischen den einzelnen Teilgebieten besonders zu betonen. Ein Kapitel mit mathematischen Grundlagen der Physik erleichtert den Einstieg. Zahlreiche Übungsaufgaben dienen der Vertiefung des Stoffes.
Download or read book Particle Or Wave written by Charis Anastopoulos and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Particle or Wave' explains the origins and development of modern physical concepts about matter and the controversies surrounding them.
Download or read book Art Physics written by Leonard Shlain and published by William Morrow Paperbacks. This book was released on 2007-02-27 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Art interprets the visible world. Physics charts its unseen workings. The two realms seem completely opposed. But consider that both strive to reveal truths for which there are no words––with physicists using the language of mathematics and artists using visual images. In Art & Physics, Leonard Shlain tracks their breakthroughs side by side throughout history to reveal an astonishing correlation of visions. From the classical Greek sculptors to Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns, and from Aristotle to Einstein, artists have foreshadowed the discoveries of scientists, such as when Monet and Cezanne intuited the coming upheaval in physics that Einstein would initiate. In this lively and colorful narrative, Leonard Shlain explores how artistic breakthroughs could have prefigured the visionary insights of physicists on so many occasions throughout history. Provicative and original, Art & Physics is a seamless integration of the romance of art and the drama of science––and an exhilarating history of ideas.
Download or read book The Necessity of Friction written by Nordal Akerman and published by Physica. This book was released on 1993-10-01 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Friction is what keeps us from realizing our goals. It is what compromises all our plans, sometimes making them unrecognizable. It defies our wish for perfection and constantly surprises us with new elements of resistance. It constitutes the divide between dream and reality. But friction is also that which gets us moving, a necessary incentive to achieve progress. Nothing can start if it cannot push off something else. By blocking or delaying the easy solution friction makes for a richer, more varied world. If it stops schemes from being completely fulfilled, it also stops them from going totally awry. To the modernist project with its one-sided rationalist pretensions, friction is unambiguously bad. And so it is being disposed of at an increasing speed. This means less and less time to pause and rethink, while the vulnerability of societies is aggravated. In "The Necessity of Friction" twenty scholars tackle this topical and important concept. A number of scientific fields are engaged: physics, philosophy, economics, architecture, organizational theory, artificial intelligence, and others. Together these contributions form the first modern-day attempt at analyzing the intriguing yet elusive subject of friction.
