Epistemology and Natural Philosophy in the 18th Century

The Roots of Modern Physics
1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-3-030-52851-5
Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 550 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 1016 g

Reihe: History of Mechanism and Machine Science

This book documents the process of transformation from natural philosophy, which was considered the most important of the sciences until the early modern era, into modern disciplines such as mathematics, physics, natural history, chemistry, medicine and engineering. It focuses on the 18th century, which has often been considered uninteresting for the history of science, representing the transition from the age of genius and the birth of modern science (the 17th century) to the age of prodigious development in the 19th century. Yet the 18th century, the century of Enlightenment, as will be demonstrated here, was in fact characterized by substantial ferment and novelty.

To make the text more accessible, little emphasis has been placed on the precise genesis of the various concepts and methods developed in scientific enterprises, except when doing so was necessary to make them clear. For the sake of simplicity, in several situations reference is made to the authors who are famous today, such as Newton, the Bernoullis, Euler, d’Alembert, Lagrange, Lambert, Volta et al. – not necessarily because they were the most creative and original minds, but mainly because their writings represent a synthesis of contemporary and past studies. The above names should, therefore, be considered more labels of a period than references to real historical characters.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Capecchi, Danilo

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Wissenschaftstheorie, Wissenschaftsphilosophie
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Wissenschaften: Theorie, Epistemologie, Methodik
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Naturphilosophie, Philosophie und Evolution
• Naturwissenschaften Physik Physik Allgemein Geschichte der Physik
• Technische Wissenschaften Technik Allgemein Technikgeschichte
• Mathematik | Informatik Mathematik Mathematik Allgemein Geschichte der Mathematik
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wissenschafts- und Universitätsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Geschichte der Westlichen Philosophie Westliche Philosophie: 18. Jahrhundert

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Epistemology and Science at the Turn of the 18th Century.- The Birth of Physics as an Academic Discipline.- Classical Mechanics.- Physics in General.- The Emergence of the Science of Engineering.

Über Autor(innen)

Danilo Capecchi was professor of Structural Mechanics at University of Rome La Sapienza. His research into the history of science focuses mainly on classical mechanics.