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202 results in History, Philosophy and Foundations of Physics

Page 1 of 11

Women in the History of Quantum Physics
  • Beyond Knabenphysik
  • Edited by Patrick Charbonneau, Michelle Frank, Margriet van der Heijden, Daniela Monaldi
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    July 2025
    Print publication:
    31 July 2025
  • Capturing the stories of sixteen women who made significant contributions to the development of quantum physics, this anthology highlights how, from the very beginning, women played a notable role in shaping one of the most fascinating and profound scientific fields of our time. Rigorously researched and written by historians, scientists, and philosophers of science, the findings in this interdisciplinary book transform traditional physics historiography. Entirely new sources are included alongside established sources that are examined from a fresh perspective. These concise biographies serve as a valuable counterweight to the prevailing narrative of male genius, and demonstrate that in the history of quantum physics, women of all backgrounds have been essential contributors all along. Accessible and engaging, this book is relevant for a wide audience including historians, scientists and science educators, gender theorists and sociologists.

Discovering Quarks
  • Remembering Feynman, Gell-Mann, and Tollestrup
  • George Zweig
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    April 2025
    Print publication:
    31 March 2025
  • This book describes the development of our understanding of the strong interactions in particle physics, through its competing ideas and personalities, its false starts, blind alleys, and moments of glory – culminating with the author's discovery of quarks, real particles living in a deeper layer of reality. How were quarks discovered, what did physicists think they were, and what did they turn out to be? These questions are answered through a collection of personal remembrances. The focus is on the reality of quarks, and why that reality made them so difficult to accept. How Feynman and Gell-Mann practiced physics, with their contrasting styles and motivations, presented different obstacles to accepting this reality. And how was the author, as a graduate student, able to imagine their existence, and act on it? Science buffs, students, and experts alike will find much here to pique their interest and learn about quarks along the way.

The Einstein Paradox
  • The Debate on Nonlocality and Incompleteness in 1935
  • Guido Bacciagaluppi, Elise Crull
  • Published online:
    14 November 2024
    Print publication:
    28 November 2024
  • The famously controversial 1935 paper by Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR) took aim at the heart of the flourishing field of quantum mechanics. The paper provoked responses from the leading theoretical physicists of the day, and brought entanglement and nonlocality to the forefront of discussion. This book looks back at the seminal year in which the EPR paper was published and explores the intense debate it unleashed. These conversations in print and in private correspondence offer significant insight into the minds of pioneering quantum physicists including Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrödinger and Albert Einstein himself. Offering the most complete collection of sources to date – many published or translated here for the first time – this text brings a rich new context to this pivotal moment in physics history. Both researchers and students in the history and philosophy of science, and enthusiasts alike, will find this book illuminating.

The Cosmic Microwave Background
  • Historical and Philosophical Lessons
  • Slobodan Perovic, Milan M. Cirkovic
  • Published online:
    09 July 2024
    Print publication:
    27 June 2024
  • This volume tells the untold story of how observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation were interpreted in the decades following its serendipitous discovery, before the Hot Big Bang model became the accepted orthodoxy. The authors guide the reader through this history, including the many false trails and blind alleys that occurred along the way. Readers will discover how the Big Bang theory was shaped by alternative theories that exposed its weaknesses – including some that persist even today. By looking carefully at what it takes to reject an incorrect theory and the assumptions and processes at each stage, the authors examine the epistemological factors at play between an emerging scientific orthodoxy and since discarded alternatives. Their analysis of the cosmic microwave background provides a uniquely well-documented case study of theory building for a wide readership spanning cosmology, the history of physics and astronomy, and the philosophy of science more broadly.

Atlas of the Messier Objects
  • Highlights of the Deep Sky
  • 2nd edition
  • Ronald Stoyan
  • With contributions by Klaus-Peter Schroeder
  • Published online:
    11 April 2024
    Print publication:
    28 March 2024
  • Messier's catalog of 110 star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies is the most popular list of deep sky gems. The first edition of this stunning reference atlas was hailed as the most comprehensive, detailed, and beautiful account of the Messier objects then available. The second edition continues this trend, with thoroughly investigated and updated astrophysical, historical, and observational information for every object. The main object photos have all been replaced with more than 150 new images from some of the world's best amateurs displaying the objects' splendor through large-scale color images. Historical sketches from classical observers from the nineteenth century are presented, alongside the author's modern deep-sky drawings. Extensive information is given on visual observation from using the naked eye and binoculars through to large modern amateur telescopes. Astronomers of all abilities will delight in the Atlas's return as your guide to the sky's finest objects.

The Philosophy and Practice of Science
  • David B. Teplow
  • Published online:
    17 September 2023
    Print publication:
    31 August 2023
  • This book is a novel synthesis of the philosophy and practice of science, covering its diverse theoretical, metaphysical, logical, philosophical, and practical elements. The process of science is generally taught in its empirical form: what science is, how it works, what it has achieved, and what it might achieve in the future. What is often absent is how to think deeply about science and how to apply its lessons in the pursuit of truth, in other words, knowing how to know. In this volume, David Teplow presents illustrative examples of science practice, history and philosophy of science, and sociological aspects of the scientific community, to address commonalities among these disciplines. In doing so, he challenges cherished beliefs and suggests to students, philosophers, and practicing scientists new, epistemically superior, ways of thinking about and doing science.

The ALMA Telescope
  • The Story of a Science Mega-Project
  • Paul A. Vanden Bout, Robert L. Dickman, Adele L. Plunkett
  • Published online:
    03 August 2023
    Print publication:
    17 August 2023
  • ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, situated high in the Chilean desert, is the largest ground-based telescope on Earth. This is an insiders' account of how this complex mega-project came to fruition from authors with intimate knowledge of its past and present. The separate roots of ALMA in the United States, Europe, and Japan are traced to their merger into an international partnership involving more than 20 countries. The book relates the search for a suitable telescope site, challenges encountered in organization, funding, and construction, and lessons learned along the way. It closes with a review of the most significant results from ALMA, now one of the most productive telescopes in the world. Written for a broad spectrum of readers, including astronomers, engineers, project managers, science historians, government officials, and the general public, the eBook edition is available to download as an Open Access publication on Cambridge Core.

Quantized Detector Networks
  • The Theory of Observation
  • George Jaroszkiewicz
  • Published online:
    13 July 2023
    Print publication:
    27 July 2023
  • Scientists have been debating the meaning of quantum mechanics for more than a century. This book for graduate students and researchers gets to the root of the problem: how the contextual nature of empirical truth and the laws of observation impact on our understanding of quantum physics. Bridging the gap between non-relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, this novel approach to quantum mechanics extends the standard formalism to cover the observer and their apparatus. The author demystifies some of the aspects of quantum mechanics that have traditionally been regarded as extraordinary, such as wave-particle duality and quantum superposition, emphasizing the scientific principles rather than the mathematical modelling. Including key experiments and worked examples throughout, the author encourages the reader to focus on empirically sound concepts and avoid metaphysical speculation. Originally released in 2017, this title has been reissued as an Open Access publication on Cambridge Core.

Star Noise: Discovering the Radio Universe
  • Kenneth I. Kellermann, Ellen N. Bouton
  • Published online:
    04 May 2023
    Print publication:
    11 May 2023
  • Until Karl Jansky's 1933 discovery of radio noise from the Milky Way, astronomy was limited to observation by visible light. Radio astronomy opened a new window on the Universe, leading to the discovery of quasars, pulsars, the cosmic microwave background, electrical storms on Jupiter, the first extrasolar planets, and many other unexpected and unanticipated phenomena. Theory generally played little or no role – or even pointed in the wrong direction. Some discoveries came as a result of military or industrial activities, some from academic research intended for other purposes, some from simply looking with a new technique. Often it was the right person, in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing – or sometimes the wrong thing. Star Noise tells the story of these discoveries, the men and women who made them, the circumstances which enabled them, and the surprising ways in which real-life scientific research works.

Reversing the Arrow of Time
  • Bryan W. Roberts
  • Published online:
    24 November 2022
    Print publication:
    08 December 2022
  • The arrow of time refers to the curious asymmetry that distinguishes the future from the past. Reversing the Arrow of Time argues that there is an intimate link between the symmetries of 'time itself' and time reversal symmetry in physical theories, which has wide-ranging implications for both physics and its philosophy. This link helps to clarify how we can learn about the symmetries of our world; how to understand the relationship between symmetries and what is real, and how to overcome pervasive illusions about the direction of time. Roberts explains the significance of time reversal in a way that intertwines physics and philosophy, to establish what the arrow of time means and how we can come to know it. This book is both mathematically and philosophically rigorous yet remains accessible to advanced undergraduates in physics and philosophy of physics. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

The Transactional Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
  • A Relativistic Treatment
  • 2nd edition
  • Ruth E. Kastner
  • Published online:
    22 April 2022
    Print publication:
    28 April 2022
  • Providing a comprehensive exposition of the transactional interpretation (TI) of quantum mechanics, this book sheds new light on long-standing problems in quantum theory such as the physical meaning of the 'Born Rule' for the probabilities of measurement results, and demonstrates the ability of TI to solve the measurement problem of quantum mechanics. It provides robust refutations of various objections and challenges to TI, such as Maudlin's inconsistency challenge, and explicitly extends TI into the relativistic domain, providing new insight into the basic compatibility of TI with relativity and the meaning of 'virtual particles.' It breaks new ground in approaches to interpreting quantum theory and presents a compelling new ontological picture of quantum reality. This substantially revised and updated second edition is ideal for researchers and graduate students interested in the philosophy of physics and the interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Conversations on Quantum Gravity
  • Edited by Jácome (Jay) Armas
  • Published online:
    05 August 2021
    Print publication:
    26 August 2021
  • The holy grail of theoretical physics is to find the theory of everything that combines all the forces of nature, including gravity. This book addresses the question: how far are we from such discovery? Over the last few decades, multiple roads to finding a quantum theory of gravity have been proposed but no obvious description of nature has emerged in this domain. What is to be made of this situation? This volume probes the state-of-the art in this daunting quest of theoretical physics by collecting critical interviews with nearly forty leading theorists in this field. These broad-ranging conversations give important insights and candid opinions on the various approaches to quantum gravity, including string theory, loop quantum gravity, causal set theory and asymptotic safety. This unique, readable overview provides a gateway into cutting edge research for students and others who wish to engage with the open problem of quantum gravity.

Nobel Life
  • Conversations with 24 Nobel Laureates on their Life Stories, Advice for Future Generations and What Remains to be Discovered
  • Stefano Sandrone
  • Published online:
    03 June 2021
    Print publication:
    17 June 2021
  • Few people have changed the world like the Nobel Prize winners. Their breakthrough discoveries have revolutionised medicine, chemistry, physics and economics. Nobel Life consists of original interviews with twenty-four Nobel Prize winners. Each of them has a unique story to tell. They recall their eureka moments and the challenges they overcame along the way, give advice to inspire future generations and discuss what remains to be discovered. Engaging and thought-provoking, Nobel Life provides an insight into life behind the Nobel Prize winners. A call from Stockholm turned a group of twenty-four academics into Nobel Prize winners. This is their call to the next generations worldwide.

Cosmic Messengers
  • The Limits of Astronomy in an Unruly Universe
  • Martin Harwit
  • Published online:
    21 January 2021
    Print publication:
    11 February 2021
  • Martin Harwit, author of the influential book Cosmic Discovery, asks key questions about the scope of observational astronomy. Humans have long sought to understand the world we inhabit. Recent realization of how our unruly Universe distorts information before it ever reaches us reveals distinct limits on how well we will ultimately understand the Cosmos. Even the best instruments we might conceive will inevitably be thwarted by ever more complex distortions and will never untangle the data completely. Observational astronomy, and the cost of pursuing it, will then have reached an inherent end. Only some totally different lines of approach, as yet unknown and potentially far more costly, might then need to emerge if we wish to learn more. This accessible book is written for all astronomers, astrophysicists, and those curious about how well we will ever understand the Universe and the potential costs of pushing those limits.

Multiverse Theories
  • A Philosophical Perspective
  • Simon Friederich
  • Published online:
    07 January 2021
    Print publication:
    28 January 2021
  • If the laws of nature are fine-tuned for life, can we infer other universes with different laws? How could we even test such a theory without empirical access to those distant places? Can we believe in the multiverse of the Everett interpretation of quantum theory or in the reality of other possible worlds, as advocated by philosopher David Lewis? At the intersection of physics and philosophy of science, this book outlines the philosophical challenge to theoretical physics in a measured, well-grounded manner. The origin of multiverse theories are explored within the context of the fine-tuning problem and a systematic comparison between the various different multiverse models are included. Cosmologists, high energy physicists, and philosophers including graduate students and researchers will find a systematic exploration of such questions in this important book.

A New Perspective on Antisthenes
  • Logos, Predicate and Ethics in his Philosophy
  • Piet Meijer
  • Edited by Peter Stork
  • Published by:
    Amsterdam University Press
    Published online:
    24 December 2020
    Print publication:
    24 January 2017
  • Antisthenes (c. 445–c. 365 BC), was a prominent follower of Socrates and bitter rival of Plato. In this revisionary account of his philosophy in all its aspects, P. A. Meijer claims that Plato and Aristotle have corrupted our perspective on this witty and ingenious thinker. The first part of the book reexamines afresh Antisthenes' ideas about definition and predication and concludes from these that Antisthenes never held the (in)famous theory that contradiction is impossible. The second part of the book argues that Antisthenes' logical theories bear directly on his activities as an exegete of Homer and hence as a theological thinker. Part three, finally, offers innovative readings of Antisthenes' ethical fragments.

The Discovery of Cosmic Voids
  • Laird A. Thompson
  • Published online:
    02 December 2020
    Print publication:
    10 December 2020
  • The large-scale structure of the Universe is dominated by vast voids with galaxies clustered in knots, sheets, and filaments, forming a great 'cosmic web'. In this personal account of the major astronomical developments leading to this discovery, we learn from Laird A. Thompson, a key protagonist, how the first 3D maps of galaxies were created. Using non-mathematical language, he introduces the standard model of cosmology before explaining how and why ideas about cosmic voids evolved, referencing the original maps, reproduced here. His account tells of the competing teams of observers, racing to publish their results, the theorists trying to build or update their models to explain them, and the subsequent large-scale survey efforts that continue to the present day. This is a well-documented account of the birth of a major pillar of modern cosmology, and a useful case study of the trials surrounding how this scientific discovery became accepted.

The Correspondence of Isaac Newton
  • Volume 4, 1694–1709
  • Isaac Newton
  • Edited by J. F. Scott
  • Published online:
    17 November 2020
    Print publication:
    01 August 1967
  • This fourth volume covers the period which was probably the most varied of Newton's whole career. The Principia had already established Newton as the world's foremost mathematician and natural philosopher. In spite of the abstruse nature of the mathematical treatment adopted in its pages, the first edition was rapidly exhausted and, within a very few years, Newton was being urged to consider the preparation of the second edition. This was to contain, inter alia, his further researches upon the motion of the Moon, the solar system, and the behaviour of the comets. Not until 1694, however, did his thoughts upon this project assume definite shape. To carry out his plan, he had need of the most accurate observations available, and for these he turned to the Observatory at Greenwich, where John Flamsteed had been installed as King's Astronomer. So came about that close association between the two men which was to last for many years, though not without frequent interruptions.

The Correspondence of Isaac Newton
  • Volume 2, 1676-1687
  • Isaac Newton
  • Edited by H. W. Turnball
  • Published online:
    17 November 2020
    Print publication:
    01 January 1960
  • This second volume contains the first exchange of letters between Newton and Leibniz, which took place through the intermediacy of Oldenburg, as well as the beginning of Newton's correspondence of Flamsteed, which resulted from their common interest in the comet of 1680. Of prime interest is the correspondence with Halley, whose compelling zeal and energy played such a part in persuading Newton to write the Principia. This great work was published about midsummer 1687. As early as New Year 1684/5 it was known in some quarters that Newton was busying himself with applying his laws of motion to problems of celestial mechanics, for at that time Flamsteed wrote (Letter 275): 'if you will give me leave to guesse at your designe I beleive you are endeavoring to define ye curve yt ye comet in ye aether from your Theory of motion'.

Fine-Tuning in the Physical Universe
  • Edited by David Sloan, Rafael Alves Batista, Michael Townsen Hicks, Roger Davies
  • Published online:
    13 October 2020
    Print publication:
    29 October 2020
  • Is the universe fine-tuned for complexity, life, or something else? This comprehensive overview of fine-tuning arguments in physics, with contributions from leading researchers in their fields, sheds light on this often used but seldom understood topic. Each chapter reviews a specific subject in modern physics, such as dark energy, inflation, or solar system formation, and discusses whether any parameters in our current theories appear to be fine-tuned and, if so, to what degree. Connections and differences between these fine-tuning arguments are made clear, and detailed mathematical derivations of various fine-tuned parameters are given. This accessible yet precise introduction to fine-tuning in physics will aid students and researchers across astrophysics, atomic and particle physics and cosmology, as well as all those working at the intersections of physics and philosophy.

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