Beauty and Revolution in Science / James W. McAllister.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McAllister, James W., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Aesthetics.

Rationalism.

Science--Mathematical models.

Science.

Science--Philosophy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : 9 halftones

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Explaining why he embraced the theory of relativity, the Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist P. A. M. Dirac stated, "It is the essential beauty of the theory which I feel is the real reason for believing in it." How reasonable and rational can science be when its practitioners speak of "revolutions" in their thinking and extol certain theories for their "beauty"? James W. McAllister addresses this question with the first systematic study of the aesthetic evaluations that scientists pass on their theories.Using a wealth of other examples, McAllister explains how scientists' aesthetic preferences are influenced by the empirical track record of theories, describes the origin and development of aesthetic styles of theorizing, and reconsiders whether simplicity is an empirical or an aesthetic virtue of theories. McAllister then advances an innovative model of scientific revolutions, in opposition to that of Thomas S. Kuhn.Three detailed studies demonstrate the interconnection of empirical performance, beauty, and revolution. One examines the impact of new construction materials on the history of architecture. Another reexamines the transition from the Ptolemaic system to Kepler's theory in planetary astronomy, and the third documents the rise of relativity and quantum theory in the twentieth century.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Two Challenges to Rationalism

2. Abstract Entities and Aesthetic Evaluations

3. The Aesthetic Properties of Scientific Theories

4. Two Erroneous Views of Scientists' Aesthetic Judgments

5. The Inductive Construction of Aesthetic Preference

6. The Relation of Beauty to Truth

7. A Study of Simplicity

8. Revolution as Aesthetic Rupture

9. Induction and Revolution in the Applied Arts

10. Circles and Ellipses in Astronomy

11. Continuity and Revolution in Twentieth-Century Physics

12. Rational Reasons for Aesthetic Choices

References

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 30. Apr 2019)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781501728648

1501728644

OCLC:

1100433971