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  1. Home
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  3. The Philosophy of Physics
  • Cited by 42
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
June 2012
Print publication year:
1999
Online ISBN:
9781139172981
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139172981
Subjects:
History of Philosophy, History of Science, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy, General Science
Series:
The Evolution of Modern Philosophy
Information

Book description

A magisterial study of the philosophy of physics that both introduces the subject to the non-specialist and contains many original and important contributions for professionals in the area. Modern physics was born as a part of philosophy and has retained to this day a properly philosophical concern for the clarity and coherence of ideas. Any introduction to the philosophy of physics must therefore focus on the conceptual development of physics itself. This book pursues that development from Galileo and Newton through Maxwell and Boltzmann to Einstein and the founders of quantum mechanics. There is also discussion of important philosophers of physics in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and of twentieth-century debates. In the interest of appealing to the broadest possible readership the author avoids technicalities and explains both the physics and philosophical terms.

Reviews

‘ … a rich work full of fascinating material on the history of the interaction between physics and philosophy.’

Lawrence Sklar

‘I thoroughly recommend this book … there is no doubt that Torretti presents a shining example of physics and philosophy intelligently interacting, structured as a sweeping historical review. For those inspired to venture further the comprehensive bibliography will be an added bonus.’

Source: Zentrallblatt für Mathematik

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