Science in the looking glass : what do scientists really know? / E. Brian Davies.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Davies, E. B. (Edward Brian)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Science.

Science--History.

Science--Philosophy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (306 p.)

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

How do scientific conjectures become laws? Why does proof mean different things in different sciences? Do numbers exist, or were they invented? Why do some laws turn out to be wrong? In this wide-ranging book, Brian Davies discusses the basis for scientists' claims to knowledge about the world. He looks at science historically, emphasizing not only the achievements of scientists from Galileo onwards, but also their mistakes. He rejects the claim that all scientific knowledge is provisional, by citing examples from chemistry, biology and geology. A major feature of the book is its defence of th

Contents:

Contents; 1 Perception and Language; 1.1 Preamble; 1.2 Light and Vision; Introduction; The Perception of Colour; Interpretation and Illusion; Disorders of the Brain; The World of a Bat; What Do We See?; 1.3 Language; Physiological Aspects of Language; Social Aspects of Language; Objects, Concepts, and Existence; Numbers as Social Constructs; Notes and References; 2 Theories of the Mind; 2.1 Preamble; 2.2 Mind-Body Dualism; Plato; Mathematical Platonism; The Rotation of Triangles; Descartes and Dualism; Dualism in Society; 2.3 Varieties of Consciousness; Can Computers Be Conscious?

Gödel and PenroseDiscussion; Notes and References; 3 Arithmetic; Introduction; Whole Numbers; Small Numbers; Medium Numbers; Large Numbers; What Do Large Numbers Represent?; Addition; Multiplication; Inaccessible and Huge Numbers; Peano's Postulates; Infinity; Discussion; Notes and References; 4 How Hard can Problems Get?; Introduction; The Four Colour Problem; Goldbach's Conjecture; Fermat's Last Theorem; Finite Simple Groups; A Practically Insoluble Problem; Algorithms; How to Handle Hard Problems; Notes and References; 5 Pure Mathematics; 5.1 Introduction; 5.2 Origins; Greek Mathematics

The Invention of AlgebraThe Axiomatic Revolution; Projective Geometry; 5.3 The Search for Foundations; 5.4 Against Foundations; Empiricism in Mathematics; From Babbage to Turing; Finite Computing Machines; Passage to the Infinite; Are Humans Logical?; 5.5 The Real Number System; A Brief History; What is Equality?; Constructive Analysis; Non-standard Analysis; 5.6 The Computer Revolution; Discussion; Notes and References; 6 Mechanics and Astronomy; 6.1 Seventeenth Century Astronomy; Galileo; Kepler; Newton; The Law of Universal Gravitation; 6.2 Laplace and Determinism

Chaos in the Solar SystemHyperion; Molecular Chaos; A Trip to Infinity; The Theory of Relativity; 6.3 Discussion; Notes and References; 7 Probability and Quantum Theory; 7.1 The Theory of Probability; Kolmogorov's Axioms; Disaster Planning; The Paradox of the Children; The Letter Paradox; The Three Door Paradox; The National Lottery; Probabilistic Proofs; What is a Random Number?; Bubbles and Foams; Kolmogorov Complexity; 7.2 Quantum Theory; History of Atomic Theory; The Key Enigma; Quantum Probability; Quantum Particles; The Three Aspects of Quantum Theory; Quantum Modelling

Measuring Atomic Energy LevelsThe EPR Paradox; Reflections; Schrödinger's Cat; Notes and References; 8 Is Evolution a Theory?; Introduction; The Public Perception; The Geological Record; Dating Techniques; The Mechanisms of Inheritance; Theories of Evolution; Some Common Objections; Discussion; Notes and References; 9 Against Reductionism; Introduction; Biochemistry and Cell Physiology; Prediction or Explanation; Money; Information and Complexity; Subjective Consciousness; The Chinese Room; Zombies and Related Issues; A Physicalist View; Notes and References; 10 Some Final Thoughts

Order and Chaos

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [281]-287) and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-4356-2179-4

9786611149826

0-19-921918-4

1-281-14982-9

0-19-152743-2

OCLC:

191050679