Dear all,
For those of you interested in philosophy of physics, Professor Robert DiSalle will visit our department this month and offer an advanced (postgraduate) course on philosophy of physics (from a historical perspective) focusing especially on Newton -there will be 7 meetings in total, see details below (first meeting is on Wednesday 15/5 16.00-18.00 at the Library of the the department). Prof. DiSalle is a leading expert on Newton and philosophy of physics and so the course is highly recommended.
All welcome!
All best,
SI
------
Physics & Reality
Robert DiSalle
(Western University)
(Location: Library of HPS Department)
- Wednesday 15/5 16.00-18.00
- Friday 17/5 16.00-18.00
- Wednesday 22/5 16.00-18.00
- Friday 24/5 16.00-18.00
- Wednesday 29/5 16.00-18.00
- Friday 31/5 16.00-18.00
- Wednesday 5/6 16.00-18.00
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
MA in Contemporary Philosophy / Philosophy of Science
Theoretical physics today pursues a task begun by Galileo, Huygens, and Newton in the 17th century: to understand the physical actions of matter through mathematical laws. The philosophical questions that they raised in this pursuit continue to influence physical inquiry. This course will study some metaphysical issues regarding the character of theoretical physics as a representation of the physical world: the nature of physical laws, the status of theories and theoretical entities, the application of mathematics to the world, the role of conventions, and, generally, the progress (if any) of science from Newton to the present in method and in grasp of "the nature of things”. No special background in physics or math is presupposed, but some central ideas will be introduced in an intuitive way. Texts to be studied include works by Newton, Huygens, Maxwell, Poincaré, Einstein, Weyl, and Bohr, as well as contemporary literature.
------
