Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-t27h7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-15T11:33:33.540Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Comments on the Papers of Brush and Tisza

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2022

Abner Shimony
Abner Shimony*
Affiliation:
Boston University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Most of what I have to say concerns Tisza's conceptual analysis [12], but I should like to begin with an appreciation of Brush's historical essay [2], Accurate historical information about a science is usually illuminating not only about the process of discovery but also about the subject matter itself. I think that this statement is especially true for statistical mechanics, in which the problems that the founding fathers were concerned with are still not completely solved, and I certainly feel that this historical essay has helped me to understand the subject matter of statistical mechanics better than before.

There are several remarks in Brush's essay concerning epistemology and methodology, some of which seem to me correct but others not.

Type
Part X. Foundations of Statistical Mechanics
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1976 , Issue 2: Volume Two: Symposia and Invited Papers 1976 , 1976 , pp. 609 - 616
Copyright
Copyright © 1977 by the Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

[1] Baily, F. “On the Correction of a Pendulum for the Reduction to a Vacuum: Together with Remarks on Some Anomalies Observed in Pendulum Experiments.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 1832: 399–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[2] Brush, S.G. “Statistical Mechanics and the Philosophy of Science: Some Historical Notes.” In PSA 1976, Volume Two. Edited by Suppe, F. and Asquith, P.D.. East Lansing: Philosophy of Science Association, 1977. Pages 551–584.Google Scholar
[3] Lanford, O.E. “Ergodic Theory and Approach to Equilibrium for Finite and Infinite Systems.” In The Boltzmann Equation. Edited by Cohen, E.G.D. and Thirring, W.. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1973. Pages 619–639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[4] Mackey, G. Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics. New York: Benjamin, 1963.Google Scholar
[5] Neumann, J. von. Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1955.Google Scholar
[6] Ruelle, D. “Ergodic Theory.” In The Boltzmann Equation. Edited by Cohen, E.G.D. and Thirring, W.. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1973. Pages 609–617.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[7] Shimony, A. “Is Observation Theory-Laden? A Problem in Naturalistic Epistemology.” In Logic, Laws, and Life (University of Pittsburgh Series in Philosophy of Science). Edited by Colodny, R.G.. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, in press.Google Scholar
[8] Stokes, G.G. Mathematical and Physical Papers Vol. III. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1901.Google Scholar
[9] Tisza, L. “The Thermodynamics of Phase Equilibrium.” Annals of Physics 13(1961): 1–92. (As reprinted in [11]. Pages 102-193).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[10] Tisza, L.. “The Conceptual Structure of Physics.” Reviews of Modern Physics 35(1963): 151–185. (As reprinted in [11]. Pages 343-377).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[11] Tisza, L.. Generalized Thermodynamics. Cambridge: The M.I.T. Press, 1966.Google Scholar
[12] Tisza, L.. “The Foundations of Statistical Mechanics.” In PSA 1976, Volume Two. Edited by Suppe, F. and Asquith, P.D.. East Lansing: Philosophy of Science Association, 1977. Pages 585-608.Google Scholar
[13] Tisza, L. and Quay, P.M. “The Statistical Thermodynamics of Equilibrium.” Annals of Physics 25(1963): 48–90. (As reprinted in [11]. Pages 245-287).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[14] Wilson, K.G. and Kogut, J. “The Renormalization Group and the Є-Expansion.” Physics Reports 12C(1974): 75–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar