{"title":"The “Poetic Element” of Science","authors":"Angela Gencarelli","doi":"10.1515/9783110481112-013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110481112-013","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":167138,"journal":{"name":"Physics and Literature","volume":"57-58 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131004172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Everything in Context","authors":"J. Labinger","doi":"10.1515/9783110481112-007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110481112-007","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":167138,"journal":{"name":"Physics and Literature","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127831116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Physics and Fiction","authors":"G. Vignale","doi":"10.1515/9783110481112-005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110481112-005","url":null,"abstract":": Rather than describing the natural world “ as it is ” , physical science weaves some key observations into a convincing and memorable narrative. It is not within its power to explain reality, but it can fictionalize it and thus make it understandable, sometimes even predictable. Due to the presence of internal and external constraints, physical theories are much more akin to myths – i.e., fiction created by many authors over an extended period of time – than to ordinary fiction. The mythical character of a theory does not diminish its scientific validity; quite the contrary. Convincing myths are not easily found and better observations demand better myths. The mythical content of the theory is not some extraneous content that we introduce for the sake of popularization, but an essential part of the science itself. starting","PeriodicalId":167138,"journal":{"name":"Physics and Literature","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124207093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Physics of Metaphysics","authors":"Maximilian Bergengruen","doi":"10.1515/9783110481112-015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110481112-015","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":167138,"journal":{"name":"Physics and Literature","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124039966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Induction after Electromagnetism","authors":"Kieran Murphy","doi":"10.1515/9783110481112-008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110481112-008","url":null,"abstract":": Faraday ’ s discovery of electromagnetic induction transformed the world by providing the blueprint for the mass production of electricity and a new type of motor that replaced the steam engine as the main driving force of the global economy. Electromagnetic induction presented a new set of physical problems whose solutions undermined the theoretical framework of Newtonian physics and redefined the nature of inductive reasoning. As the main logical inference characterizing the natural sciences, induction has been the subject of numerous philosophical debates about its definition and scientific value. In this paper, I trace a lesser-known contribution to these debates that developed in the wake of the epistemological changes instigated by the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction and that, through Einstein ’ s and Bachelard ’ s achievements, changed the modern conceptions of science, discovery, and history. I also argue that these achievements are inscribed in a tradition that should in-clude Balzac ’ s pioneering use of electromagnetic induction to convey the elusive nature of scientific discovery. in the case where an electric field is produced by electromagnetic induction, the gravitational field similarly has only a relative existence. Thus, for an observer in free fall from the roof of a house there exists, during his fall, no gravitational field – at least not in his immediate vicinity. If the observer releases any objects, they will remain, relative to him, in a state of rest [ … ]. There is no transition from the system of Newton to the system of Einstein. One does not proceed from the first to the second by amassing data, perfecting measurements, and making slight adjustments to first principles. What is needed is some totally new ingredi-ent. It is a ‘ transcendental induction ’ and not an ‘ amplifying induction ’ that leads the way from classical to relativistic physics. 15","PeriodicalId":167138,"journal":{"name":"Physics and Literature","volume":"120 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123227037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Albert Einstein’s “Physics and Reality” and “The Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies”","authors":"Aura Heydenreich","doi":"10.1515/9783110481112-004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110481112-004","url":null,"abstract":": Now that in the first paper I have analysed the functions of epistemic narrativity for the process of scientific modeling in the follow up paper the analytical perspective will change gears and focus on the semiologic practices of scientific modeling as well as their epistemic functions for the development of Einstein ’ s special theory of relativity. The interformative process, described here can only be understood when multiple levels of modeling are differentiated. We must therefore distinguish three levels of modeling: primary, secondary and tertiary. In order to describe this process of three-fold modeling, I first turn to Einstein ’ s 1936 text “ Physics and Reality, ” which presents a metareflec-tion of epistemic practices in theoretical physics. From this it will become clear that it is necessary to distinguish the modeling levels, because each level com-prises its own possibilities and restrictions. This differentiation hopefully leads to a better understanding of theoretical modeling in physics from the point of view of literary studies. In the second part of the paper I focus on the process of interformation in physics and discuss the development of the theory of special relativity from a systematical perspective. In order to analyse the and to describe its various levels, I initially consider in the first paper a meta-theoretical text of Einstein ’ s “ Physik und Realität ” [ “ Physics and Reality ” 1 from 1936. 2 In this text Einstein reflects retrospectively on the process of theory-formation that led to the foundations of the theory of relativity. Three different","PeriodicalId":167138,"journal":{"name":"Physics and Literature","volume":"277 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122297128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}