Scottish Philosophy and British Physics, 1740-1870 : A Study in the Foundations of the Victorian Scientific Style / Richard S. Olson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Olson, Richard S., author.

Series:

Princeton Legacy Library

Princeton Legacy Library ; 1283

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Philosophy, Scottish.

Physics--Great Britain--History.

Physics.

Physics--Philosophy.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (359 p.)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2015]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Historians of science have long been intrigued by the impact of disparate cultural styles on the science of a given country and time period. Richard Olson's book is a case study in the interaction between philosophy and science as well as an examination of a particular scientific movement.The author investigates the methodological arguments of the Common Sense philosophers Thomas Reid, Dugald Stewart, Thomas Brown, and William Hamilton and the possible transmission of their ideas to scientists from John Playfair to James Clerk Maxwell.His findings point out the need for modifications to the Duhem-Poincaré interpretation of British scientific style and the reassessment of the extent of Kantian influence on British physics.Originally published in 1975.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Acknowledgments

Contents

Prologue

PART I. The Growth of a Common Sense Philosophy of Science

Chapter 1: The Integration of Moral Philosophy and Natural Philosophy in Scottish Academia

Chapter 2: The Origins of Common Sense Philosophical Concern with the Nature of Science: Bacon and Newton Revisited in the Light of Hume

Chapter 3: Common Sense Concerns with the Nature of Mathematics

Chapter 4: A Change in Mood: Dugald Stewart, Thomas Brown, and the Acceptance of Hypothetical and Analogical Methods in Science

Chapter 5: Thomas Brown and William Hamilton: The Relativity of Scientific Knowledge and the Triumph of Simplicity and Analogy

PART II. The Influence of Common Sense Ideas on the Exact Sciences in Britain

Chapter 6: Common Sense Reflections in the Natural Philosophy of John Robison and John Playfair

Chapter 7: Common Sense Elements in Scientific Reviews: 1790-1840

Chapter 8: John Leslie and Henry Brougham: Model Common Sense Scientists of the First Generation

Chapter 9: Common Sense Concerns Once Removed: James D. Forbes and John James Waterston

Chapter 10: Sir John Herschel's Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy and the Common Sense Tradition

Chapter 11: The Methodological Writings of William John Macquorn Rankine

Chapter 12: Culmination of the Tradition: Metaphysics and Method in the Works of James Clerk Maxwell

Epilogue

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

ISBN:

9781400872497

1400872499

OCLC:

903442357