Revisiting the Foundations of Relativistic Physics: Festschrift in Honor of John Stachel (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science)

This book is for physicists, historians and philosophers of physics as well as students seeking an introduction to ongoing debates in relativistic and quantum physics. This title covers the recent debates on the emergence of relativity and quantum theory. It includes chapters with an introductory character, comprehensible to students and science teachers. It strengthens the bonds between the communities of scientists, historians, and philosophers. Revisiting the Foundations of Relativistic Physics......Page 3 Copyright ISBN 1402012845......Page 4 Table of Contents......Page 6 Stachel - Autobiographical Reflections......Page 9 Ashtekar; Renn; Shimony - Introduction......Page 13 I - Historical and Philosophical Roots of Relativity......Page 21 Eisenstaedt - The Prehistory of Relativity......Page 22 Melcher - Interpretations and Equations of the Michelson Experiment......Page 32 Jannsen - The Trouton Experiment, E = mc2, and a Slice of Minkowski Space-Time......Page 45 Norton - The N-Stein Family......Page 73 Renn; Sauer - Eclipses of the Stars......Page 86 Goldstein; Ritter - The Varieties of Unity Sounding Unified Theories 1920–1930......Page 110 Saunders - Indiscernibles, General Covariance, and Other Symmetries......Page 167 Malament - On Relative Orbital Rotation in Relativity Theory......Page 190 II - Foundational Issues in Relativity and their Advancement......Page 206 Ellis - The unique nature of cosmology......Page 207 Smolin - Time, Structure and Evolution in Cosmology......Page 235 Anderson - Timekeeping in an Expanding Universe......Page 289 Ehlers; Frittelli; Newman - Gravitational Lensing from a Space-Time Perspective......Page 295 Vishveshwara - Rigidly Rotating Disk Revisited......Page 319 D'Inverno - DSS 2 +2......Page 331 Robinson - Geometry, Null Hypersurfaces and New Variables......Page 362 Plebański; Przanowski - On Vacuum Twisting Type-N Again......Page 374 Goldberg - Quasi-Local Energy......Page 387 Gleiser; Letelier - Space-Time Defects......Page 395 Deser - Dimensionally Challenged Gravities......Page 408 Tulczyjew - A Note on Holonomic Constraints......Page 413 Wesley; Wheeler - Towards an Action-at-a-Distance Concept of Spacetime......Page 430 III - Foundational Issues in Quantum Physics and their Advancement......Page 446 Beller - Inevitability, Inseparability and Gedanken Measurement......Page 447 Paty - The Concept of Quantum State.. New Views on old Phenomena in Ashtekar et al. 2003......Page 459 Finkelstein - Elementary Processes in Ashtekar et al. 2003......Page 487 Shimony; Stein - On Quantum Non-Locality, Special Relativity, And Counterfactual Reasoning......Page 506 Jaeger; Sarkar - Coherence, Entanglement, and Reductionist Explanation In Quantum Physics......Page 529 IV - Science, History, and the Challenges of Progress......Page 549 Janis - Physics and Science Fiction......Page 550 Tisza - Can We Learn from History? Do We Want To?......Page 560 Gavroglu; Patiniotis - Patterns of Appropriation in the Greek Intellectual Life of the 18th Century......Page 574 Lefèvre - Darwin, Marx, and Warranted Progress......Page 597 Schweber - Albert Einstein and the Founding of Brandeis University......Page 618 Appendix - John Stachel's Publications......Page 644

Leading physicists, philosophers, and historians of science contribute chapters covering a wide range of themes—from recent debates on the emergence of relativity and quantum theory, to the history of science and the challenges of progress—as a tribute to influential physicist John Stachel (Boston U.) on his 70th birthday. Ashtekar (Pennsylvania State U.) and co-editors provide 31 chapters including the prehistory of relativity; dimensionally challenged gravities; and patterns of appropriation in the Greek intellectual life of the 18th century—a case study on the notion of time. The book's range may appeal to general readers interested in science, as well as graduate level courses in history and philosophy of science. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Years ago, I wrote a paper on the prehistory of black holes (Eisenstaedt 1991).