Pariah Posted May 23, 2016 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 Boyle, but not Lavoisier ? Interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 23, 2016 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 Well, note the end date; I think the editors of those compilations are after the smallest number of works that transition from the medieval mindset into modern science, and the invention of Newtonian dynamics is a definitive signpost of that transition. Besides, go too much further and they'll have to start doing math. The chemists had some more work to do to drive the stake through the heart of much of the baggage of mystical alchemy, but it was at least well begun by Boyle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 Did he writer any philosophy of science? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted May 23, 2016 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 Well, note the end date; I think the editors of those compilations are after the smallest number of works that transition from the medieval mindset into modern science, and the invention of Newtonian dynamics is a definitive signpost of that transition. Besides, go too much further and they'll have to start doing math. The chemists had some more work to do to drive the stake through the heart of much of the baggage of mystical alchemy, but it was at least well begun by Boyle. I believe you've delved to the heart of the matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 Well, note the end date; I think the editors of those compilations are after the smallest number of works that transition from the medieval mindset into modern science, and the invention of Newtonian dynamics is a definitive signpost of that transition. Besides, go too much further and they'll have to start doing math. The chemists had some more work to do to drive the stake through the heart of much of the baggage of mystical alchemy, but it was at least well begun by Boyle. Skim reading the introduction makes clear they focused on the era of those scientists who were "natural philosophers" and they wanted to highlight the development of the philosophical underpinnings of science. The works they chose they feel show this: that as science developed, the philosophy of science developed alongside it, mostly by the same people. They also feel this is best achieved by reading the original texts rather than reading a textbook. Each translation appears in another edition and they got permission from copyright holders. I feel that the translations are the best/widely accepted by scholars and thus is the closest most people will get to following the stated aims of the book, to showcase the development of the philosophy of science & its underpinnings -- why science is the way it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 23, 2016 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 Wigner's The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences Eugene Wigner, of course, is one of the titans of 20th Century physics, but he examines why physics in particular and science in general became so focussed on mathematics and seeking quantitative means of understanding how nature works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2016 Still reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted May 24, 2016 Report Share Posted May 24, 2016 Words, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2016 yep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2016 Currently up to the section: "THE ROLE OF MATHEMATICS IN PHYSICAL THEORIES" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 25, 2016 Report Share Posted May 25, 2016 Good luck with it. Though I have at least one foot in that mindset, all too often writings by physicists for non-physicists do fine up until some point and then ... jump boundaries that take much more than the supplied context to understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2016 Observations so far. -- some of the writing is holding maths in hagiographic terms, which is amusing. -- some of the words he uses is used in their ordinary definitions, however they are also philosophical terms. This too is amusing. -- the person is clearly a very smart and very knowledgeable on the topic he is writing about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 27, 2016 Report Share Posted May 27, 2016 Another piece of context: this appeared very nearly the same time as C P Snow's The Two Cultures. Wigner was in the US, not Britain, but there still was some feelings here that math & science were not getting their proper respect in much of the community. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2016 That is useful context with The Two Cultures. Thanks heaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 ...but there still was some feelings here that math & science were not getting their proper respect in much of the community. You mean at the time it was published or the present ("that math & science were not getting their proper respect in much of the community")? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 At the time. Been a while since something with that as its core message has come out, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 With STEM > Humanities I think that message has got through. What we need is STEM = Humanities. Oh well I can dream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 Well, I don't think it's the STEM people directly beating up humanities; it's the indirect effect of STEM being direct root of so much of the money the loud, rich, and smug voices have accumulated over the last couple decades. The idea that virtues are independent of, or even opposed by, wealth is something the humanities bring back to us, and self-satisfied rich folk don't like that being said out loud. tkdguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 Good thoughts/points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 STEM cells FTW!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 Humanity Cells FTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 They have worked out okay so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 Yep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 Human cellular physiology rules OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Still reading Cancer's liked article. Bit by bit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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