The Oxford Handbook of the History of Physics

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Physics PDF Author: Jed Z. Buchwald
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019969625X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 956

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Book Description
Presents a history of physics, examining the theories and experimental practices of the science.

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Physics

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Physics PDF Author: Jed Z. Buchwald
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019969625X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 956

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Book Description
Presents a history of physics, examining the theories and experimental practices of the science.

The Oxford Guide to the History of Physics and Astronomy

The Oxford Guide to the History of Physics and Astronomy PDF Author: J. L. Heilbron
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195171985
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
"The entries follow an elaborate organizational plan, which amounts to a new classification of knowledge, its institutional settings, and its applications. This plan is reprinted in the opening pages of the Guide." "Thoroughly cross-referenced, and accented with attractive black and white artwork, no other source is as systematic and authoritative or as informative and inviting in its coverage of physics, astronomy and planetary science."--BOOK JACKET.

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Physics

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Physics PDF Author: Robert Batterman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195392043
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 701

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Book Description
This Oxford Handbook provides an overview of many of the topics that currently engage philosophers of physics. It surveys new issues and the problems that have become a focus of attention in recent years. It also provides up-to-date discussions of the still very important problems that dominated the field in the past. In the late 20th Century, the philosophy of physics was largely focused on orthodox Quantum Mechanics and Relativity Theory. The measurement problem, the question of the possibility of hidden variables, and the nature of quantum locality dominated the literature on the quantum mechanics, whereas questions about relationalism vs. substantivalism, and issues about underdetermination of theories dominated the literature on spacetime. These issues still receive considerable attention from philosophers, but many have shifted their attentions to other questions related to quantum mechanics and to spacetime theories. Quantum field theory has become a major focus, particularly from the point of view of algebraic foundations. Concurrent with these trends, there has been a focus on understanding gauge invariance and symmetries. The philosophy of physics has evolved even further in recent years with attention being paid to theories that, for the most part, were largely ignored in the past. For example, the relationship between thermodynamics and statistical mechanics—-once thought to be a paradigm instance of unproblematic theory reduction—-is now a hotly debated topic. The implicit, and sometimes explicit, reductionist methodology of both philosophers and physicists has been severely criticized and attention has now turned to the explanatory and descriptive roles of "non-fundamental,'' phenomenological theories. This shift of attention includes "old'' theories such as classical mechanics, once deemed to be of little philosophical interest. Furthermore, some philosophers have become more interested in "less fundamental'' contemporary physics such as condensed matter theory. Questions abound with implications for the nature of models, idealizations, and explanation in physics. This Handbook showcases all these aspects of this complex and dynamic discipline.

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Quantum Interpretations

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Quantum Interpretations PDF Author: Olival Freire Jr
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192582984
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1104

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Book Description
Crucial to most research in physics, as well as leading to the development of inventions such as the transistor and the laser, quantum mechanics approaches its centenary with an impressive record. However, the field has also long been the subject of ongoing debates about the foundations and interpretation of the theory, referred to as the quantum controversy. This Oxford Handbook offers a historical overview of the contrasts which have been at the heart of quantum physics for the last 100 years. Drawing on the wide-ranging expertise of several contributors working across physics, history, and philosophy, the handbook outlines the main theories and interpretations of quantum physics. It goes on to tackle the key controversies surrounding the field, touching on issues such as determinism, realism, locality, classicality, information, measurements, mathematical foundations, and the links between quantum theory and gravity. This engaging introduction is an essential guide for all those interested in the history of scientific controversies and history of quantum physics. It also provides a fascinating examination of the potential of quantum physics to influence new discoveries and advances in fields such quantum information and computing.

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Medicine

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Medicine PDF Author: Mark Jackson
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 0199546495
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 691

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Book Description
In three sections, the Oxford Handbook of the History of Medicine celebrates the richness and variety of medical history around the world. It explore medical developments and trends in writing history according to period, place, and theme.

The Oxford Handbook of History and Material Culture

The Oxford Handbook of History and Material Culture PDF Author: Ivan Gaskell
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199341761
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 679

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Book Description
"The past has left a huge variety of traces in material form. If historians could figure out how to make use of them to create accounts of the past, a far greater range of histories would be available than if historians were to rely on written sources alone. People who do not appear in writings could come into focus; as could the concerns of people that have escaped writing but whose material things belie their desires and actions. This book explores various ways in which aspects of the past of peoples in many times and places otherwise inaccessible can come alive to the material culture historian. It is divided into five thematic sections that address history, material culture, and-respectively-cognition, technology, symbolism, social distinction, and memory. It does so by means of six individually authored case studies in each section that range from pins to pearls, Paleolithic to Punk"--

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Time

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Time PDF Author: Craig Callender
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0199298203
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 704

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Book Description
This is the first comprehensive book on the philosophy of time. Leading philosophers discuss the metaphysics of time, our experience and representation of time, the role of time in ethics and action, and philosophical issues in the sciences of time, especially quantum mechanics and relativity theory.

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Eugenics

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Eugenics PDF Author: Alison Bashford
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0195373146
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 607

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Book Description
Philippa Levine is the Mary Helen Thompson Centennial Professor in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin. Her books include Prostitution, Race and Politics: Policing Venereal Disease in the British Empire, and The British Empire, Sunrise to Sunset. --

The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science

The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science PDF Author: Philip Clayton
Publisher: Oxford Handbooks Online
ISBN: 0199279276
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 1041

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Book Description
The field of `science and religion' is exploding in popularity among both academics and the reading public. This is a comprehensive and authoritative introduction to the debate, written by the leading experts yet accessible to the general reader.

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Communism

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Communism PDF Author: S. A. Smith
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191667528
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 672

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Book Description
The impact of Communism on the twentieth century was massive, equal to that of the two world wars. Until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, historians knew relatively little about the secretive world of communist states and parties. Since then, the opening of state, party, and diplomatic archives of the former Eastern Bloc has released a flood of new documentation. The thirty-five essays in this Handbook, written by an international team of scholars, draw on this new material to offer a global history of communism in the twentieth century. In contrast to many histories that concentrate on the Soviet Union, The Oxford Handbook of the History of Communism is genuinely global in its coverage, paying particular attention to the Chinese Revolution. It is 'global', too, in the sense that the essays seek to integrate history 'from above' and 'from below', to trace the complex mediations between state and society, and to explore the social and cultural as well as the political and economic realities that shaped the lives of citizens fated to live under communist rule. The essays reflect on the similarities and differences between communist states in order to situate them in their socio-political and cultural contexts and to capture their changing nature over time. Where appropriate, they also reflect on how the fortunes of international communism were shaped by the wider economic, political, and cultural forces of the capitalist world. The Handbook provides an informative introduction for those new to the field and a comprehensive overview of the current state of scholarship for those seeking to deepen their understanding.