Reconstructing Reality: Models, Mathematics, and Simulations (Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Science)

Attempts to understand various aspects of the empirical world often rely on modelling processes that involve a reconstruction of systems under investigation. Typically the reconstruction uses mathematical frameworks like gauge theory and renormalization group methods, but more recently simulations also have become an indispensable tool for investigation. This book is a philosophical examination of techniques and assumptions related to modelling and simulation with the goal of showing how these abstract descriptions can contribute to our understanding of the physical world. Particular issues include the role of fictional models in science, how mathematical formalisms can yield physical information, and how we should approach the use of inconsistent models for specific types of systems. It also addresses the role of simulation, specifically the conditions under which simulation can be seen as a technique for measurement, replacing more traditional experimental approaches. Inherent worries about the legitimacy of simulation "knowledge" are also addressed, including an analysis of verification and validation and the role of simulation data in the search for the Higgs boson. In light of the significant role played by simulation in the Large Hadron Collider experiments, it is argued that the traditional distinction between simulation and experiment is no longer applicable in some contexts of modern science. Consequently, a re-evaluation of the way and extent to which simulation delivers empirical knowledge is required. "This is a, lively, stimulating, and important book by one of the main scholars contributing to current topics and debates in our field. It will be a major resource for philosophers of science, their students, scientists interested in examining scientific practice, and the general scientifically literate public."-Bas van Fraassen, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, San Francisco State University Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series 3 Reconstructing Reality 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction 12 Part I Mathematics, Explanation, and Understanding 24 1 Abstraction and Idealisation: Understanding via Models 26 2 From the Pure to the Concrete: How Mathematics Yields Physical Information 61 Part II Where Models Meet the World: Problems and Perspectives 94 3 More Than Make-Believe: Fictions, Models, and Reality 96 4 Mediated Knowledge: Representation and the Theory-Model Axis 130 5 Making the Best of It: Inconsistent versus Complementary Models 167 Part III Computer Simulation: The New Reality 208 6 Why Materiality Is Not Enough: Models, Measurement, and Computer Simulation 210 7 Legitimating Simulation: Methodological Issues of Verification and Validation 259 8 Without It There’s Nothing: The Necessity of Simulation in the Higgs Search 298 References 328 Index 338 The book examines issues related to the way modeling and simulation enable us to reconstruct aspects of the world we are investigating. It also investigates the processes by which we extract concrete knowledge from those reconstructions and how that knowledge is legitimated. This text examines issues related to the way modelling and simulation enable us to reconstruct aspects of the world we are investigating. It also investigates the processes by which we extract concrete knowledge from those reconstructions and how that knowledge is legitimated