Philosophy of Physics
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Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Chemistry
Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Chemistry Jaap van Brakel Abstract: In this paper I assess the relation between philosophy of chemistry and (general) philosophy of science, focusing on those themes in the philoso- phy of chemistry that may bring about major revisions or extensions of cur- rent philosophy of science. Three themes can claim to make a unique contri- bution to philosophy of science: first, the variety of materials in the (natural and artificial) world; second, extending the world by making new stuff; and, third, specific features of the relations between chemistry and physics. Keywords : philosophy of science, philosophy of chemistry, interdiscourse relations, making stuff, variety of substances . 1. Introduction Chemistry is unique and distinguishes itself from all other sciences, with respect to three broad issues: • A (variety of) stuff perspective, requiring conceptual analysis of the notion of stuff or material (Sections 4 and 5). • A making stuff perspective: the transformation of stuff by chemical reaction or phase transition (Section 6). • The pivotal role of the relations between chemistry and physics in connection with the question how everything fits together (Section 7). All themes in the philosophy of chemistry can be classified in one of these three clusters or make contributions to general philosophy of science that, as yet , are not particularly different from similar contributions from other sci- ences (Section 3). I do not exclude the possibility of there being more than three clusters of philosophical issues unique to philosophy of chemistry, but I am not aware of any as yet. Moreover, highlighting the issues discussed in Sections 5-7 does not mean that issues reviewed in Section 3 are less im- portant in revising the philosophy of science. -
Observational Determinism for Concurrent Program Security
Observational Determinism for Concurrent Program Security Steve Zdancewic Andrew C. Myers Department of Computer and Information Science Computer Science Department University of Pennsylvania Cornell University [email protected] [email protected] Abstract This paper makes two contributions. First, it presents a definition of information-flow security that is appropriate for Noninterference is a property of sequential programs that concurrent systems. Second, it describes a simple but ex- is useful for expressing security policies for data confiden- pressive concurrent language with a type system that prov- tiality and integrity. However, extending noninterference to ably enforces security. concurrent programs has proved problematic. In this pa- Notions of secure information flow are usually based on per we present a relatively expressive secure concurrent lan- noninterference [15], a property only defined for determin- guage. This language, based on existing concurrent calculi, istic systems. Intuitively, noninterference requires that the provides first-class channels, higher-order functions, and an publicly visible results of a computation do not depend on unbounded number of threads. Well-typed programs obey a confidential (or secret) information. Generalizing noninter- generalization of noninterference that ensures immunity to ference to concurrent languages is problematic because these internal timing attacks and to attacks that exploit informa- languages are naturally nondeterministic: the order of execu- tion about the thread scheduler. Elimination of these refine- tion of concurrent threads is not specified by the language se- ment attacks is possible because the enforced security prop- mantics. Although this nondeterminism permits a variety of erty extends noninterference with observational determin- thread scheduler implementations, it also leads to refinement ism. -
A Brief Tour Into the History of Gravity: from Emocritus to Einstein
American Journal of Space Science 1 (1): 33-45, 2013 ISSN: 1948-9927 © 2013 Science Publications doi:10.3844/ajssp.2013.33.45 Published Online 1 (1) 2013 (http://www.thescipub.com/ajss.toc) A Brief Tour into the History of Gravity: From Emocritus to Einstein Panagiotis Papaspirou and Xenophon Moussas Department of Physics, Section of Astrophysics, Astronomy and Mechanics, University of Athens, Athens, Greece ABSTRACT The History of Gravity encompasses many different versions of the idea of the Gravitational interaction, which starts already from the Presocratic Atomists, continues to the doctrines of the Platonic and Neoplatonic School and of the Aristotelian School, passes through the works of John Philoponus and John Bouridan and reaches the visions of Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei. Then, the major breakthrough in the Theory of Motion and the Theory of Gravity takes place within the realm of Isaac Newton’s most famous Principia and of the work of Gottfried Leibniz, continues with the contributions of the Post- newtonians, such as Leonhard Euler, reaches the epoch of its modern formulation by Ernst Mach and other Giants of Physics and Philosophy of this epoch, enriches its structure within the work of Henry Poincare and finally culminates within the work of Albert Einstein, with the formulation of the Theory of Special Relativity and of General Relativity at the begin of the 20th century. The evolution of the Theory of General Relativity still continues up to our times, is rich in forms it takes and full of ideas of theoretical strength. Many fundamental concepts of the Epistemology and the History of Physics appear in the study of the Theory of Gravity, such as the notions of Space, of Time, of Motion, of Mass, in its Inertial, Active Gravitational and Passive Gravitational form, of the Inertial system of reference, of the Force, of the Field, of the Riemannian Geometry and of the Field Equations. -
1.) What Is the Difference Between Observation and Interpretation? Write a Short Paragraph in Your Journal (5-6 Sentences) Defining Both, with One Example Each
Observation and Response: Creative Response Template can be adapted to fit a variety of classes and types of responses Goals: Students will: • Practice observation skills and develop their abilities to find multiple possibilities for interpretation and response to visual material; • Consider the difference between observation and interpretation; • Develop descriptive skills, including close reading and metaphorical description; • Develop research skills by considering a visual text or object as a primary source; • Engage in creative response to access and communicate intellectually or emotionally challenging material. Observation exercises Part I You will keep a journal as you go through this exercise. This can be a physical notebook that pleases you or a word document on your computer. At junctures during the exercise, you will be asked to comment, define, reflect, and create in your journal on what you just did. Journal responses will be posted to Canvas at the conclusion of the exercise, either as word documents or as Jpegs. 1.) What is the difference between observation and interpretation? Write a short paragraph in your journal (5-6 sentences) defining both, with one example each. 2.) Set a timer on your phone or computer (or oven…) and observe the image provided for 1 minute. Quickly write a preliminary research question about it. At first glance, what are you curious about? What do you want to know? 3.) Set your timer for 5 minutes and write as many observations as possible about it. Try to keep making observations, even when you feel stuck. Keep returning to the question, “What do I see?” No observation is too big or too small, too obvious or too obscure. -
Detailing Coherent, Minimum Uncertainty States of Gravitons, As
Journal of Modern Physics, 2011, 2, 730-751 doi:10.4236/jmp.2011.27086 Published Online July 2011 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/jmp) Detailing Coherent, Minimum Uncertainty States of Gravitons, as Semi Classical Components of Gravity Waves, and How Squeezed States Affect Upper Limits to Graviton Mass Andrew Beckwith1 Department of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China E-mail: [email protected] Received April 12, 2011; revised June 1, 2011; accepted June 13, 2011 Abstract We present what is relevant to squeezed states of initial space time and how that affects both the composition of relic GW, and also gravitons. A side issue to consider is if gravitons can be configured as semi classical “particles”, which is akin to the Pilot model of Quantum Mechanics as embedded in a larger non linear “de- terministic” background. Keywords: Squeezed State, Graviton, GW, Pilot Model 1. Introduction condensed matter application. The string theory metho- dology is merely extending much the same thinking up to Gravitons may be de composed via an instanton-anti higher than four dimensional situations. instanton structure. i.e. that the structure of SO(4) gauge 1) Modeling of entropy, generally, as kink-anti-kinks theory is initially broken due to the introduction of pairs with N the number of the kink-anti-kink pairs. vacuum energy [1], so after a second-order phase tran- This number, N is, initially in tandem with entropy sition, the instanton-anti-instanton structure of relic production, as will be explained later, gravitons is reconstituted. This will be crucial to link 2) The tie in with entropy and gravitons is this: the two graviton production with entropy, provided we have structures are related to each other in terms of kinks and sufficiently HFGW at the origin of the big bang. -
Newton.Indd | Sander Pinkse Boekproductie | 16-11-12 / 14:45 | Pag
omslag Newton.indd | Sander Pinkse Boekproductie | 16-11-12 / 14:45 | Pag. 1 e Dutch Republic proved ‘A new light on several to be extremely receptive to major gures involved in the groundbreaking ideas of Newton Isaac Newton (–). the reception of Newton’s Dutch scholars such as Willem work.’ and the Netherlands Jacob ’s Gravesande and Petrus Prof. Bert Theunissen, Newton the Netherlands and van Musschenbroek played a Utrecht University crucial role in the adaption and How Isaac Newton was Fashioned dissemination of Newton’s work, ‘is book provides an in the Dutch Republic not only in the Netherlands important contribution to but also in the rest of Europe. EDITED BY ERIC JORINK In the course of the eighteenth the study of the European AND AD MAAS century, Newton’s ideas (in Enlightenment with new dierent guises and interpre- insights in the circulation tations) became a veritable hype in Dutch society. In Newton of knowledge.’ and the Netherlands Newton’s Prof. Frans van Lunteren, sudden success is analyzed in Leiden University great depth and put into a new perspective. Ad Maas is curator at the Museum Boerhaave, Leiden, the Netherlands. Eric Jorink is researcher at the Huygens Institute for Netherlands History (Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences). / www.lup.nl LUP Newton and the Netherlands.indd | Sander Pinkse Boekproductie | 16-11-12 / 16:47 | Pag. 1 Newton and the Netherlands Newton and the Netherlands.indd | Sander Pinkse Boekproductie | 16-11-12 / 16:47 | Pag. 2 Newton and the Netherlands.indd | Sander Pinkse Boekproductie | 16-11-12 / 16:47 | Pag. -
Introduction
Introduction Queen's College, the predecessor of Rutgers University, was the eighth college to be founded in the American colonies. The early colonial colleges were founded to meet the emerging needs for an educated clergy, and to provide education to other leaders of the community. The religious leaders of the colonies were foremost in the movements to establish these colleges. Although denominational sponsorship was critical to the founding and early support of the colleges, there were generally no religious tests for students, and the colleges were chartered by the colonies. Leaders of the Puritan Congregational Church founded Harvard College in 1636 with a bequest of £400 from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The College was organized and named Harvard College in 1639, and chartered in 1650. The traditional list of colonial colleges that followed Harvard College begins with William and Mary College, which was founded in 1693 by leaders of the Anglican Episcopal Church, followed by Yale College, which was founded in 1701 by leaders of the Puritan Congregational Church. The College of Philadelphia (later University of Pennsylvania) was founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin and other leading citizens of Philadelphia, and had the weakest religious connections of the colonial colleges. The College of New Jersey (later Princeton College) was founded in 1746 by leaders of the Presbyterian Church, King's College (later Columbia College) was founded in 1754 by leaders of the Anglican Episcopal Church, and the College of Rhode Island (later Brown College) was founded in 1764 by leaders of the Baptist Church. 1 History of Physics and Astronomy Some elements of physics and astronomy were taught in the colonial colleges from the time they opened. -
151545957.Pdf
Universit´ede Montr´eal Towards a Philosophical Reconstruction of the Dialogue between Modern Physics and Advaita Ved¯anta: An Inquiry into the Concepts of ¯ak¯a´sa, Vacuum and Reality par Jonathan Duquette Facult´ede th´eologie et de sciences des religions Th`ese pr´esent´ee `ala Facult´edes ´etudes sup´erieures en vue de l’obtention du grade de Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D.) en sciences des religions Septembre 2010 c Jonathan Duquette, 2010 Universit´ede Montr´eal Facult´edes ´etudes sup´erieures et postdoctorales Cette th`ese intitul´ee: Towards A Philosophical Reconstruction of the Dialogue between Modern Physics and Advaita Ved¯anta: An Inquiry into the Concepts of ¯ak¯a´sa, Vacuum and Reality pr´esent´ee par: Jonathan Duquette a ´et´e´evalu´ee par un jury compos´edes personnes suivantes: Patrice Brodeur, pr´esident-rapporteur Trichur S. Rukmani, directrice de recherche Normand Mousseau, codirecteur de recherche Solange Lefebvre, membre du jury Varadaraja Raman, examinateur externe Karine Bates, repr´esentante du doyen de la FESP ii Abstract Toward the end of the 19th century, the Hindu monk and reformer Swami Vivekananda claimed that modern science was inevitably converging towards Advaita Ved¯anta, an important philosophico-religious system in Hinduism. In the decades that followed, in the midst of the revolution occasioned by the emergence of Einstein’s relativity and quantum physics, a growing number of authors claimed to discover striking “par- allels” between Advaita Ved¯anta and modern physics. Such claims of convergence have continued to the present day, especially in relation to quantum physics. In this dissertation, an attempt is made to critically examine such claims by engaging a de- tailed comparative analysis of two concepts: ¯ak¯a´sa in Advaita Ved¯anta and vacuum in quantum physics. -
What's the Problem with the Cosmological Constant?
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Philsci-Archive What’s the problem with the cosmological constant? Mike D. Schneider∗y Abstract The “Cosmological Constant Problem” (CCP) is widely considered a crisis in contemporary theoretical physics. Unfortunately, the search for its resolution is hampered by open disagreement about what is, strictly, the problem. This disagreement stems from the observation that the CCP is not a problem within any of our current theories, and nearly all of the details of those future theories for which the CCP could be made a problem are up for grabs. Given this state of affairs, I discuss how one ought to make sense of the role of the CCP in physics and generalize some lessons from it. ∗To contact the author, write to: Mike D. Schneider, Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science, University of California, Irvine; e-mail: [email protected]. yI would like to thank James Owen Weatherall and Erik Curiel for their steering comments on earlier drafts of this paper. I am also grateful for the many questions and comments from members of the Southern California Philosophy of Physics reading group, as well as for the positive reception of the paper at the Philosophy of Logic, Math, and Physics graduate student conference at the Rotman Institute of Philosophy at Western University. Finally, I am indebted to Jeffrey Barrett, JB Manchak, Hannah Rubin, Kyle Stanford, and John Earman, as well as to an anonymous reviewer and an editor for pushing me to make my punchlines clearer. -
Yesterday, Today, and Forever Hebrews 13:8 a Sermon Preached in Duke University Chapel on August 29, 2010 by the Revd Dr Sam Wells
Yesterday, Today, and Forever Hebrews 13:8 A Sermon preached in Duke University Chapel on August 29, 2010 by the Revd Dr Sam Wells Who are you? This is a question we only get to ask one another in the movies. The convention is for the question to be addressed by a woman to a handsome man just as she’s beginning to realize he isn’t the uncomplicated body-and-soulmate he first seemed to be. Here’s one typical scenario: the war is starting to go badly; the chief of the special unit takes a key officer aside, and sends him on a dangerous mission to infiltrate the enemy forces. This being Hollywood, the officer falls in love with a beautiful woman while in enemy territory. In a moment of passion and mystery, it dawns on her that he’s not like the local men. So her bewitched but mistrusting eyes stare into his, and she says, “Who are you?” Then there’s the science fiction version. In this case the man develops an annoying habit of suddenly, without warning, traveling in time, or turning into a caped superhero. Meanwhile the woman, though drawn to his awesome good looks and sympathetic to his commendable desire to save the universe, yet finds herself taking his unexpected and unusual absences rather personally. So on one of the few occasions she gets to look into his eyes when they’re not undergoing some kind of chemical transformation, she says, with the now-familiar, bewitched-but-mistrusting expression, “Who are you?” “Who are you?” We never ask one another this question for fear of sounding melodramatic, like we’re in a movie. -
The New Adaption Gallery
Introduction In 1991, a group of Heritage Center staff began meeting informally after work to discuss a Heritage Center expansion. This “committee” was formalized in 1992 by Jim Sperry, Superintendent of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, and became known as the Space Planning About Center Expansion (SPACE) committee. The committee consisted of several Historical Society staff and John Hoganson representing the North Dakota Geological Survey. Ultimately, some of the SPACE committee ideas were rejected primarily because of anticipated high cost such as a planetarium, arboretum, and day care center but many of the ideas have become reality in the new Heritage Center expansion. In 2009, the state legislature appropriated $40 million for a $52 million Heritage Center expansion. The State Historical Society of North Dakota Foundation was given the task to raise the difference. On November 23, 2010 groundbreaking for the expansion took place. Planning for three new galleries began in earnest: the Governor’s Gallery (for large, temporary, travelling exhibits), Innovation Gallery: Early Peoples, and Adaptation Gallery: Geologic Time. The Figure 1. Partial Stratigraphic column of North Dakota showing Figure 2. Plate tectonic video. North Dakota's position is indicated by the the age of the Geologic Time Gallery displays. red symbol. JULY 2014 1 Orientation Featured in the Orientation area is an interactive touch table that provides a timeline of geological and evolutionary events in North Dakota from 600 million years ago to the present. Visitors activate the timeline by scrolling to learn how the geology, environment, climate, and life have changed in North Dakota through time. -
Sacred Rhetorical Invention in the String Theory Movement
University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research Communication Studies, Department of Spring 4-12-2011 Secular Salvation: Sacred Rhetorical Invention in the String Theory Movement Brent Yergensen University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/commstuddiss Part of the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons Yergensen, Brent, "Secular Salvation: Sacred Rhetorical Invention in the String Theory Movement" (2011). Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research. 6. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/commstuddiss/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Communication Studies, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. SECULAR SALVATION: SACRED RHETORICAL INVENTION IN THE STRING THEORY MOVEMENT by Brent Yergensen A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Communication Studies Under the Supervision of Dr. Ronald Lee Lincoln, Nebraska April, 2011 ii SECULAR SALVATION: SACRED RHETORICAL INVENTION IN THE STRING THEORY MOVEMENT Brent Yergensen, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2011 Advisor: Ronald Lee String theory is argued by its proponents to be the Theory of Everything. It achieves this status in physics because it provides unification for contradictory laws of physics, namely quantum mechanics and general relativity. While based on advanced theoretical mathematics, its public discourse is growing in prevalence and its rhetorical power is leading to a scientific revolution, even among the public.