Selectivity and discord : two problems of experiment / Allan Franklin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Franklin, Allan, 1938-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Science--Philosophy.

Science.

Physics--Experiments.

Physics.

Physics--History.

History.

Physical Description:

290 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Pittsburgh, Pa. : University of Pittsburgh Press, [2002]

Summary:

"Selectivity and Discord" addresses the fundamental question of whether there are grounds for belief in experimental results. Specifically, Allan Franklin is concerned with two problems in the use of experimental results in science: selectivity of data or analysis procedures and the resolution of discordant results. By means of detailed case studies of episodes from the history of modern physics, Franklin shows how these problems can be--and are--solved in the normal practice of science and, therefore, that experimental results may be legitimately used as a basis for scientific knowledge.

Contents:

I. Selectivity and the Production of Experimental Results 37

1. Measurement of the K[superscript + subscript e2] Branching Ratio 41

2. Early Attempts to Detect Gravity Waves 53

3. Millikan's Measurement of the Charge of the Electron 67

4. The Disappearing Particle: The Case of the 17-keV Neutrino 77

5. Are There Really Low-Mass Electron-Positron States? 92

6. "Blind" Analysis 132

II. The Resolution of Discordant Results 159

7. The Fifth Force 165

8. William Wilson and the Absorption of [beta] Rays 179

9. The Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector: Two Different Results from One Experiment 207

10. Atomic Parity Violation, SLAC E122, and the Weinberg-Salam Theory 220.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-283) and index.

ISBN:

0822941910

OCLC:

50253048