Semantical Aspects of Spacetime Theories
Author: Ulrich Majer
Publisher:
Published: 1994
Total Pages: 276
ISBN-13:
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Towards a Theory of Spacetime Theories
Author: Dennis Lehmkuhl
Publisher: Birkhäuser
Published: 2017-01-05
Total Pages: 337
ISBN-13: 1493932101
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis contributed volume is the result of a July 2010 workshop at the University of Wuppertal Interdisciplinary Centre for Science and Technology Studies which brought together world-wide experts from physics, philosophy and history, in order to address a set of questions first posed in the 1950s: How do we compare spacetime theories? How do we judge, objectively, which is the “best” theory? Is there even a unique answer to this question? The goal of the workshop, and of this book, is to contribute to the development of a meta-theory of spacetime theories. Such a meta-theory would reveal insights about specific spacetime theories by distilling their essential similarities and differences, deliver a framework for a class of theories that could be helpful as a blueprint to build other meta-theories, and provide a higher level viewpoint for judging which theory most accurately describes nature. But rather than drawing a map in broad strokes, the focus is on particularly rich regions in the “space of spacetime theories.” This work will be of interest to physicists, as well as philosophers and historians of science working with or interested in General Relativity and/or Space, Time and Gravitation more generally.
Foundations of Space-Time Theories
Author: John Earman
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
Published: 1977-11-25
Total Pages: 482
ISBN-13: 0816657521
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFoundations of Space-Time Theories was first published in 1977. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. The essays in this volume are based on the papers given at a conference on the philosophical aspects of the space-time theory held under the auspices of the Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science.
Understanding Space-Time
Author: Robert DiSalle
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2006-04-27
Total Pages: 204
ISBN-13: 9781139452663
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPresenting the history of space-time physics, from Newton to Einstein, as a philosophical development DiSalle reflects our increasing understanding of the connections between ideas of space and time and our physical knowledge. He suggests that philosophy's greatest impact on physics has come about, less by the influence of philosophical hypotheses, than by the philosophical analysis of concepts of space, time and motion, and the roles they play in our assumptions about physical objects and physical measurements. This way of thinking leads to interpretations of the work of Newton and Einstein and the connections between them. It also offers ways of looking at old questions about a priori knowledge, the physical interpretation of mathematics, and the nature of conceptual change. Understanding Space-Time will interest readers in philosophy, history and philosophy of science, and physics, as well as readers interested in the relations between physics and philosophy.
Philosophy and Spacetime Physics
Author: Lawrence Sklar
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Published: 1985
Total Pages: 354
ISBN-13: 9780520061804
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe End of Time
Author: Julian Barbour
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2001-11-29
Total Pages: 385
ISBN-13: 0199760896
DOWNLOAD EBOOKRichard Feynman once quipped that "Time is what happens when nothing else does." But Julian Barbour disagrees: if nothing happened, if nothing changed, then time would stop. For time is nothing but change. It is change that we perceive occurring all around us, not time. Put simply, time does not exist. In this highly provocative volume, Barbour presents the basic evidence for a timeless universe, and shows why we still experience the world as intensely temporal. It is a book that strikes at the heart of modern physics. It casts doubt on Einstein's greatest contribution, the spacetime continuum, but also points to the solution of one of the great paradoxes of modern science, the chasm between classical and quantum physics. Indeed, Barbour argues that the holy grail of physicists--the unification of Einstein's general relativity with quantum mechanics--may well spell the end of time. Barbour writes with remarkable clarity as he ranges from the ancient philosophers Heraclitus and Parmenides, through the giants of science Galileo, Newton, and Einstein, to the work of the contemporary physicists John Wheeler, Roger Penrose, and Steven Hawking. Along the way he treats us to enticing glimpses of some of the mysteries of the universe, and presents intriguing ideas about multiple worlds, time travel, immortality, and, above all, the illusion of motion. The End of Time is a vibrantly written and revolutionary book. It turns our understanding of reality inside-out.
Non-Inertial Frames and Dirac Observables in Relativity
Author: Luca Lusanna
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2019-07-04
Total Pages: 339
ISBN-13: 1108480829
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDescribes global non-inertial frames in special and general relativity and provides a detailed description of mathematical methods.
The Ontology of Spacetime
Author:
Publisher: Elsevier
Published: 2006-07-10
Total Pages: 307
ISBN-13: 0080461883
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book contains selected papers from the First International Conference on the Ontology of Spacetime. Its fourteen chapters address two main questions: first, what is the current status of the substantivalism/relationalism debate, and second, what about the prospects of presentism and becoming within present-day physics and its philosophy? The overall tenor of the four chapters of the book's first part is that the prospects of spacetime substantivalism are bleak, although different possible positions remain with respect to the ontological status of spacetime. Part II and Part III of the book are devoted to presentism, eternalism, and becoming, from two different perspectives. In the six chapters of Part II it is argued, in different ways, that relativity theory does not have essential consequences for these issues. It certainly is true that the structure of time is different, according to relativity theory, from the one in classical theory. But that does not mean that a decision is forced between presentism and eternalism, or that becoming has proved to be an impossible concept. It may even be asked whether presentism and eternalism really offer different ontological perspectives at all. The writers of the last four chapters, in Part III, disagree. They argue that relativity theory is incompatible with becoming and presentism. Several of them come up with proposals to go beyond relativity, in order to restore the prospects of presentism.· Space and time in present-day physics and philosophy · Introduction from scratch of the debates surrounding time · Broad spectrum of approaches, coherently represented
Beyond Spacetime
Author: Nick Huggett
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2020-05-14
Total Pages: 371
ISBN-13: 110847702X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA collection of essays discussing the philosophy and foundations of quantum gravity. Written by leading philosophers and physicists in the field, chapters cover the important conceptual questions in the search for a quantum theory of gravity, and the current state of understanding among philosophers and physicists.
The Physical Basis of The Direction of Time
Author: H. Dieter Zeh
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2013-04-17
Total Pages: 194
ISBN-13: 3662027593
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe asymmetry of natural phenomena under time reversal is striking. Here Zehinvestigates the most important classes of physical phenomena that characterize the arrow of time, discussing their interrelations as well as striving to uncover a cosmological common root of the phenomena, such as the time-independent wave function of the universe. The description of irreversible phenomena is shown to be fundamentally "observer-related". Both physicists and philosophers of science who reviewed the first edition considered this book a magnificent survey, a concise, technically sophisticated, up-to-date discussion of the subject, showing fine sensivity to some of the crucial philosophicalsubtleties. This new and expanded edition will be welcomed by both students and specialists.
