A tale of seven scientists and a new philosophy of science

In his latest book, Eric Scerri presents a completely original account of the nature of scientific progress. It consists of a holistic and unified approach in which science is seen as a living and evolving single organism. Instead of scientific revolutions featuring exceptionally gifted individuals, Scerri argues that the "little people" contribute as much as the "heroes" of science. To do this he examines seven case studies of virtually unknown chemists and physicists in the early 20th century quest to discover the structure of the atom. They include the amateur scientist Anton van den Broek who pioneered the notion of atomic number as well as Edmund Stoner a then physics graduate student who provided the seed for Pauli's Exclusion Principle. Another case is the physicist John Nicholson who is virtually unknown and yet was the first to propose the notion of quantization of angular momentum that was soon put to good use by Niels Bohr. Instead of focusing on the logic and rationality of science, Scerri elevates the role of trial and error and multiple discovery and moves beyond the notion of scientific developments being right or wrong. While criticizing Thomas Kuhn's notion of scientific revolutions he agrees with Kuhn that science is not drawn towards an external truth but is rather driven from within. The book will enliven the long-standing debate on the nature of science, which has increasingly shied away from the big question of "what is science?" COVER 1 A Tale of Seven Scientists and a New Philosophy of Science 4 COPYRIGHT 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 6 CONTENTS 8 BIOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND 16 Chapter 1: Introduction 38 MARGINAL AND INTERMEDIATE FIGURES IN THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE 40 MOVING BEYOND “RIGHT” AND “WRONG” IN SCIENCE 42 POSSIBLE OBJECTIONS 46 NOTES 47 Chapter 2: John Nicholson 48 THE WORK 48 ACCOUNTING FOR ATOMIC WEIGHTS OF THE ELEMENTS 51 ACCOMMODATING THE SPECTRA OF FOUR NEBULA INCLUDING ORION NEBULA 58 HOW DID NICHOLSON CALCULATE THE FREQUENCIES OF SPECTRAL LINES? 59 NICHOLSON’S CALCULATIONS ON THE SPECTRUM OF THE SOLAR CORONA 62 NICHOLSON AND PLANCK’S CONSTANT 62 REACTIONS TO WORK OF NICHOLSON 65 HOW WAS ANY OF THE SUCCESS POSSIBLE GIVEN THE LIMITATIONS OF NICHOLSON’S THEORY? 71 CONCLUSIONS 72 NOTES 73 Chapter 3: Anton Van den Broek 76 THE ARTICLE OF 1911 AND A LETTER TO NATURE MAGAZINE 81 GOODBYE TO ATOMIC WEIGHT, WELCOME ATOMIC NUMBER 85 PREEMPTING MOSELEY 89 INTERLUDE ON WHAT BOHR KNEW ABOUT ATOMIC NUMBER 91 CONCLUSION 95 NOTES 96 Chapter 4: Richard Abegg 98 A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY AND INTRODUCTION 98 ABEGG’S EARLY WORK IN ELECTROCHEMISTRY 99 WHAT IS A HALF-CELL? 103 ABEGG ON VALENCY AND THE PERIODIC TABLE 106 CONCLUSION 111 NOTES 112 Chapter 5: Charles Bury 114 ELECTRONIC CONFIGURATIONS ACCORDING TO PHYSICISTS 116 Thomson 116 BOHR 119 KOSSELL 120 CONFIGURATIONS ACCORDING TO CHEMISTS 122 Lewis 122 LANGMUIR 125 A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES BURY 128 BURY’S WORK 130 CONCLUSION 134 NOTES 135 Chapter 6: John D. Main Smith 138 SOME CURIOUS ASPECTS OF MAIN SMITH’S WORK 144 THE INERT PAIR EFFECT 146 CONCLUSION 148 NOTES 150 Chapter 7: Edmund Stoner 152 AN INTERLUDE ON BOHR’S THEORY OF THE PERIODIC TABLE 154 BOHR’S SECOND THEORY OF THE PERIODIC SYSTEM 158 ADIABATIC PRINCIPLE 161 STONER’S PAPER 164 MAGNETIC EVIDENCE 168 CHEMICAL PROPERTIES 170 REACTIONS TO STONER’S ARTICLE 173 HOW STONER’S ARTICLE LED PAULI TO THE EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE 175 PRIORITY QUESTION BETWEEN MAIN SMITH AND STONER 178 CONCLUSION 179 NOTES 180 Chapter 8: Charles Janet 184 JANET ON ATOMIC STRUCTURE AND CHEMISTRY 187 JANET ON THE PERIODIC SYSTEM 188 THE MADELUNG RULE 193 JANET’S LEFT-STEP TABLE IN CONTEMPORARY SCHOLARSHIP ON THE PERIODIC TABLE 194 ELEMENTS AS BASIC SUBSTANCES OR AS SIMPLE SUBSTANCES 197 CONCLUSION 203 NOTES 203 Chapter 9: Bringing Things Together 206 THE NATURE OF SCIENCE AND PRIORITY DISPUTES 208 PRIORITY DISPUTES ACCORDING TO ROBERT MERTON 210 SIMULTANEOUS OR MULTIPLE DISCOVERY 213 TRADITIONAL PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE AND MULTIPLE DISCOVERY 215 POSSIBLE REASONS FOR MULTIPLE DISCOVERY 217 THE THESIS OF UNIVERSAL MULTIPLICITY 219 A NEW COTTAGE INDUSTRY. INCONSISTENCY IN SCIENTIFIC THEORIES 221 WHAT TO DO? 223 INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL INCONSISTENCIES IN THEORIES 224 EVOLUTIONARY THEORIES OF SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT 225 REVOLUTIONS OR NOT? 227 MORE ON MY EVOLUTIONARY VIEW OF SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT 231 BACK TO KUHN 232 REVOLUTION AND EVOLUTION, CAN KUHN HAVE IT BOTH WAYS? 234 CAN KUHN HAVE HIS CAKE AND EAT IT? 236 TOULMIN 237 CAMPBELL 242 NOTES 248 INDEX 254 The Author Presents A New Philosophy Of Science In The Grand Tradition That Has Recently Been Deemed Impossible. Scerri Believes That Science Develops As A Holistic Entity, Which Is Fundamentally Unified Even Though The Individuals Making Up The Body Scientific Are Frequently In Competition Among Each Other. He Draws Inspiration From A Conviction That The World Is Essentially Unified In The Way That Has Been Described By Both Western And Eastern Philosophers. -- Introduction -- John Nicholson -- Anton Van Den Broek -- Richard Abegg -- Charles Bury -- John D. Main Smith -- Edmund Stoner -- Charles Janet -- Bringing Things Together. Eric Scerri. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The author presents a new philosophy of science in the grand tradition that has recently been deemed impossible. Scerri believes that science develops as a holistic entity, which is fundamentally unified even though the individuals making up the body scientific are frequently in competition among each other. He draws inspiration from a conviction that the world is essentially unified in the way that has been described by both Western and Eastern philosophers. -- Provided by publisher