The focus of this broad historical overview of "the steady evolution of theoretical ideas" from Shelter Island I in 1947 to Shelter Island II in 1983 is some of the developments in "fundamental" physics after the establishment of the standard model, in particular, the adoption of the view that all present day field theories are "effective field theories" based on the gauge concept; taking seriously big bang cosmology, grand unified field theories (GUTs), and inflation; and the emergence of a new symbiosis of physics and mathematics.

Previous articleNext article No AccessEssay ReviewUnifying Einstein Jeroen van Dongen. Einstein's Unification. x + 213 pp., illus., bibl., index. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.S. S. SchweberS. S. Schweber* Department of Physics, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02453. Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Isis Volume 102, Number 4December 2011 Publication of the History of Science Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/663617 Views: 10Total views on this site © 2011 by The History of Science Society. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The development of quantum mechanics in the period 1920–1927 posed challenges to the understanding of causality and its incorporation into the new dynamics. Though aware of these challenges to the classical concepts of causality and to the conservation laws of energy and momentum, Arnold Sommerfeld and the members of his seminar never wavered in their commitment to the conservation laws because of their belief in the “preestablished harmony” between mathematics and physics that Felix Klein, David Hilbert, and Hermann Minkowski had championed. I survey these developments and trace how the concept of causality was reformulated in scattering theory by Gregor Wentzel, Enrico Fermi, and Giulio Racah.

Introduction ix PART 1: Solitude and World Chapter 1: Who Was Einstein? Why Is He Still So Alive? by Gerald Holton 3 Chapter 2: A Short History of Einstein's Paradise beyond the Personal by Lorraine Daston 15 Chapter 3: Einstein's Jewish Identity by Hanoch Gutfreund 27 Chapter 4: Einstein and God by Yehuda Elkana 35 Chapter 5: Einstein's Unintended Legacy: The Critique of Common-Sense Realism and Post-Modern Politics by Yaron Ezrahi 48 Chapter 6: Subversive Einstein by Susan Neiman 59 Chapter 7: Einstein and Nuclear Weapons by Silvan S. Schweber 72 PART 2: Art and World Chapter 8: Einstein and 20th-Century Art: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Linda Dalrymple Henderson 101 Chapter 9: Rendering Time by Caroline A. Jones 130 Chapter 10: Into the Bleed: Einstein and 21st-Century Art by Matthew Ritchie 150 Chapter 11: Einstein and Music by Leon Botstein 161 Chapter 12: Seeing the Unseen by E. L. Doctorow 176 PART 3: Science and World Chapter 13: The Assassin of Relativity by Peter L. Galison 185 Chapter 14: Space, Time, and Geometry: Einstein and Logical Empiricism by Michael L. Friedman 205 Chapter 15: Einstein as a Student by Dudley Herschbach 217 Chapter 16: Learning from Einstein: Innovation in Science by Jurgen Renn 239 Chapter 17: Einstein and 'h: Advances in Quantum Mechanics by Jurg Frohlich 257 Chapter 18: Einstein's Unknown Contribution to Quantum Theory by A. Douglas Stone 270 Chapter 19: Einstein and the Quest for a Unified Theory by David Gross 287 Chapter 20: Energy in Einstein's Universe by Lisa Randall 299 Notes 311 Contributors 341 Index 349

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsKaren Barad. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. xiii + 524 pp., illus., bibl., index. Durham, N.C./London: Duke University Press, 2007.S. S. SchweberS. S. SchweberPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Isis Volume 99, Number 4December 2008 Publication of the History of Science Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/597741 Views: 559Total views on this site Citations: 3Citations are reported from Crossref © 2008 by The History of Science Society. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Stacey Moran Designing Quantum Bodies: A New Calculus of Responsibility, Somatechnics 10, no.33 (Dec 2020): 306–326.https://doi.org/10.3366/soma.2020.0325Noel Gough, Chessa Adsit-Morris Words ( are ) matter: generating material-semiotic lines of flight in environmental education research assemblages (with a little help from SF), Environmental Education Research 26, no.9-109-10 (Nov 2019): 1491–1508.https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2019.1663793Koos Wagensveld, Jasper Jolink Performative research: A Baradian framework, Maandblad Voor Accountancy en Bedrijfseconomie 92, no.1/21/2 (Mar 2018): 27–35.https://doi.org/10.5117/mab.92.23787

is purported to have declared: “Qui se hasarderait à placer l’autorité de Copernic au-dessus de celle du Saint Esprit?” In fact, it is but an inaccurate rendering of Seidengart’s second-hand source. With the same inaccuracy, it is declared repeatedly that the famous condemnation in 1277 by Bishop Tempier affirmed the possibility for God to create “an infinite plurality of worlds” (p. 155, but also 59, 337), whereas in reality Tempier affirmed only the possibility for God to create a plurality of worlds (“plures mundos”). This is no small difference for a book pretending to present the history of the emergence in Western thought of the infinite universe. The same lack of attention to critical literature is also evident in the extended presentation of Bruno’s infinite cosmology. In this case, the interpretation goes hand-in-hand with a series of quotations in French from Bruno’s Latin works, which often are not very accurate, the author preferring to rely excessively upon the Italian translation by Carlo Monti (cf. pp. 187, 201, 211, 239, 252). Although this study does not supersede the old and briefer book by Koyré (indeed the author does not claim to do this), it treats many aspects of the main problem not attended to by its predecessor and can be seen as complementary. This is the case for seventeenth-century French authors and for Huygens as well as for Bruno. In this respect, Seidengart’s study presents a richer and more variegated picture and has a certain utility. The reader should not forget, however, that many of his developments have already been presented by previous scholars who are not always cited, and that great caution has always to be applied in reading.

Without Abstract

Julian Schwinger's development of his Green's functions methods in quantum field theory is placed in historical context. The relation of Schwinger's quantum action principle to Richard Feynman's path-integral formulation of quantum mechanics is reviewed. The nonperturbative character of Schwinger's approach is stressed as well as the ease with which it can be extended to finite temperature situations.

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsThe End of Science: Facing the Limits of Knowledge in the Twilight Zone of the Scientific Age. John Horgan S. S. SchweberS. S. Schweber Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmailPrint SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Isis Volume 91, Number 1Mar., 2000 Publication of the History of Science Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/384683 Views: 3Total views on this site Copyright 2000 History of Science Society, Inc.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Thomas Hankins and Robert Silverman investigate an array of instruments from the seventeenth through the nineteenth century that seem at first to be marginal to science--magnetic clocks that were said to operate by the movements of sunflower seeds, magic lanterns, ocular harpsichords (machines that played different colored lights in harmonious mixtures), Aeolian harps (a form of wind chime), and other instruments of "natural magic" designed to produce wondrous effects. By looking at these and the first recording instruments, the stereoscope, and speaking machines, the authors show that "scientific instruments" first made their appearance as devices used to evoke wonder in the beholder, as in works of magic and the theater. The authors also demonstrate that these instruments, even though they were often "tricks," were seen by their inventors as more than trickery. In the view of Athanasius Kircher, for instance, the sunflower clock was not merely a hoax, but an effort to demonstrate, however fraudulently, his truly held belief that the ability of a flower to follow the sun was due to the same cosmic magnetic influence as that which moved the planets and caused the rotation of the earth. The marvels revealed in this work raise and answer questions about the connections between natural science and natural magic, the meaning of demonstration, the role of language and the senses in science, and the connections among art, music, literature, and natural science. Originally published in 1995. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Share Icon Share Twitter Facebook Reddit LinkedIn Reprints and Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Silvan S. Schweber; Reflections on the Sokal Affair: What Is at Stake?. Physics Today 1 March 1997; 50 (3): 73–74. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.881695 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentPhysics Today Search Advanced Search