Brownian Movement and Molecular Reality PDF Download

Author: Jean Perrin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Brownian movements
Languages : en
Pages : 110

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Author: George E. Smith
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190098031
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 469

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Book Description
Between 1905 and 1913, French physicist Jean Perrin's experiments on Brownian motion ostensibly put a definitive end to the long debate regarding the real existence of molecules, proving the atomic theory of matter. While Perrin's results had a significant impact at the time, later examination of his experiments questioned whether he really gained experimental access to the molecular realm. The experiments were successful in determining the mean kinetic energy of the granules of Brownian motion; however, the values for molecular magnitudes Perrin inferred from them simply presupposed that the granule mean kinetic energy was the same as the mean molecular kinetic energy in the fluid in which the granules move. This stipulation became increasingly questionable in the years between 1908 and 1913, as significantly lower values for these magnitudes were obtained from other experimental results like alpha-particle emissions, ionization, and Planck's blackbody radiation equation. In this case study in the history and philosophy of science, George E. Smith and Raghav Seth here argue that despite doubts, Perrin's measurements were nevertheless exemplars of theory-mediated measurement-the practice of obtaining values for an inaccessible quantity by inferring them from an accessible proxy via theoretical relationships between them. They argue that it was actually Perrin more than any of his contemporaries who championed this approach during the years in question. The practice of theory-mediated measurement in physics had a long history before 1900, but the concerted efforts of Perrin, Rutherford, Millikan, Planck, and their colleagues led to the central role this form of evidence has had in microphysical research ever since. Seth and Smith's study thus replaces an untenable legend with an account that is not only tenable, but more instructive about what the evidence did and did not show.

Author: George E. Smith
Publisher:
ISBN: 0190098023
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 469

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Book Description
Between 1905 and 1913, French physicist Jean Perrin's experiments on Brownian motion ostensibly put a definitive end to the long debate regarding the real existence of molecules, proving the atomic theory of matter. While Perrin's results had a significant impact at the time, later examination of his experiments questioned whether he really gained experimental access to the molecular realm. In this case study in the history and philosophy of science, George E. Smith and Raghav Seth here argue that despite doubts, Perrin's measurements were nevertheless exemplars of theory-mediated measurement-the practice of obtaining values for an inaccessible quantity by inferring them from an accessible proxy via theoretical relationships between them. They argue that it was actually Perrin more than any of his contemporaries who championed this approach during the years in question.

Author: Rachel Crossland
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192547984
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Modernist Physics takes as its focus the ideas associated with three scientific papers published by Albert Einstein in 1905, considering the dissemination of those ideas both within and beyond the scientific field, and exploring the manifestation of similar ideas in the literary works of Virginia Woolf and D. H. Lawrence. Drawing on Gillian Beer's suggestion that literature and science 'share the moment's discourse', Modernist Physics seeks both to combine and to distinguish between the two standard approaches within the field of literature and science: direct influence and the zeitgeist. The book is divided into three parts, each of which focuses on the ideas associated with one of Einstein's papers. Part I considers Woolf in relation to Einstein's paper on light quanta, arguing that questions of duality and complementarity had a wider cultural significance in the early twentieth century than has yet been acknowledged, and suggesting that Woolf can usefully be considered a complementary, rather than a dualistic, writer. Part II looks at Lawrence's reading of at least one book on relativity in 1921, and his subsequent suggestion in Fantasia of the Unconscious that 'we are in sad need of a theory of human relativity', a theory which is shown to be relevant to Lawrence's writing of relationships both before and after 1921. Part III considers Woolf and Lawrence together alongside late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century discussions of molecular physics and crowd psychology, suggesting that Einstein's work on Brownian motion provides a useful model for thinking about individual literary characters.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chemistry
Languages : en
Pages : 992

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Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chemistry
Languages : en
Pages : 988

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Author: Emily Herring
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351214802
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Integrated History and Philosophy of Science (iHPS) is commonly understood as the study of science from a combined historical and philosophical perspective. Yet, since its gradual formation as a research field, the question of how to suitably integrate both perspectives remains open. This volume presents cutting edge research from junior iHPS scholars, and in doing so provides a snapshot of current developments within the field, explores the connection between iHPS and other academic disciplines, and demonstrates some of the topics that are attracting the attention of scholars who will help define the future of iHPS.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Meteorology
Languages : en
Pages : 908

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Vols. 1-69 include more or less complete patent reports of the U. S. Patent Office for years 1825-1859. cf. Index to v. 1-120 of the Journal, p. [415]

Author: Franklin Institute (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Meteorology
Languages : en
Pages : 898

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Book Description
Vols. 1-69 include more or less complete patent reports of the U. S. Patent Office for years 1825-59.

Author: William Cudmore McCullagh Lewis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chemistry, Physical and theoretical
Languages : en
Pages : 70

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