The tiger and the shark : empirical roots of wave-particle dualism

The early twentieth century brought about the rejection by physicists of the doctrine of determinism - the belief that complete knowledge of the initial conditions of an interaction in nature allows precise and unambiguous prediction of the outcome. This book traces the origins of a central problem leading to this change in viewpoint and paradoxes raised by attempts to formulate a consistent theory of the nature of light. It outlines the different approaches adopted by members of different national cultures to the apparent inconsistencies, explains why Einstein's early (1905) attempt at a resolution was not taken seriously for fifteen years, and describes the mixture of ideas that created a route to a new, antideterministic formulation of the laws of nature. Dr Wheaton describes the experimental work on the new forms of radiation found at the turn of the century and shows how the interpretation of energy transfer from X-rays to matter gradually transformed a classical wave explanation of light to one based on particle like quanta of energy, and further, he explains how influential scientists came reluctantly to accept a wavelike interpretation of matter as well. This new and distinctively different account of one of the major theoretical shifts in modern physical thought will be of fundamental interest to physical scientists and philosophers, as well as to historians of science. Cover......Page 1 Frontmatter......Page 2 Contents......Page 8 Foreword by Thomas S. Kuhn......Page 10 Preface......Page 16 Notes on sources......Page 22 1 - Introduction......Page 26 Part I - The introduction of temporal discontinuity, 1896--1905......Page 38 2 - The electromagnetic impulse hypothesis of x-rays......Page 40 3 - The analogy between [GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA]-rays and x-rays......Page 74 Part II - Ionization and the recognition of paradox, 1906--1910......Page 94 4 - Secondary rays: British attempts to retain mechanism......Page 96 5 - The appeal in Germany to the quantum theory......Page 129 Part III - Seeking an electrodynamic solution, 1907--1912......Page 158 6 - Localized energy in spreading impulses......Page 160 7 - Problems with visible light......Page 193 Part IV - Interference of x-rays and the corroboration of paradox, 1912--1922......Page 222 8 - Origins of x-ray spectroscopy......Page 224 9 - Quantum transformation experiments......Page 258 Part V - The conceptual origins of wave--particle dualism, 1921--1925......Page 286 10 - Synthesis of matter and light......Page 288 Epilogue: The tiger and the shark......Page 327 Bibliography......Page 334 Index......Page 372 The early 20th century brought about the rejection by physicists of the doctrine of determinism - the belief that complete knowledge of the initial conditions of an interaction in nature allows precise and unambiguous prediction of the outcome. This book traces the origins of a central problem leading to this change in viewpoint This study grew out of concerns first raised while I was a student of physics. This inadequacy of most textbook discussions of historical and epistemological issues led me back to original papers and then to the literature on history of science. Bruce R. Wheaton ; With A Foreword By Thomas S. Kuhn. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. [309]-346. This is the story of a radical change in human's concept of light.