Representing electrons : a biographical approach to theoretical entities / Theodore Arabatzis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Arabatzis, Theodore, 1965-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Electrons--History.

Electrons.

Science--Philosophy.

Science.

Realism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (311 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Both a history and a metahistory, Representing Electrons focuses on the development of various theoretical representations of electrons from the late 1890's to 1925 and the methodological problems associated with writing about unobservable scientific entities. Using the electron-or rather its representation-as a historical actor, Theodore Arabatzis illustrates the emergence and gradual consolidation of its representation in physics, its career throughout old quantum theory, and its appropriation and reinterpretation by chemists. As Arabatzis develops this novel biographical approach, he portrays scientific representations as partly autonomous agents with lives of their own. Furthermore, he argues that the considerable variance in the representation of the electron does not undermine its stable identity or existence. Raising philosophical issues of contentious debate in the history and philosophy of science-namely, scientific realism and meaning change-Arabatzis addresses the history of the electron across disciplines, integrating historical narrative with philosophical analysis in a book that will be a touchstone for historians and philosophers of science and scientists alike.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1. Methodological Preliminaries

Chapter 2. Why Write Biographies of Theoretical Entities?

Chapter 3. Rethinking "the Discovery of the Electron"

Chapter 4. The Birth and Infancy of the Representation of the Electron

Chapter 5. The Genesis of the Quantum Electron

Chapter 6. Between Relativity and Correspondence

Chapter 7. "How the Electrons Spend Their leisure Time": The Chemists' Perspective

Chapter 8. Forced to Spin by Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit

Chapter 9. Identifying the Electron: Meaning Variance and the Historicity of Scientific Realism

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-287) and index.

ISBN:

9786613134356

9780226024226

0226024229

9781283134354

1283134357

OCLC:

727649389