Overview
This study began as an attempt to understand mechanics in the nineteenth century. The terms mechanics and mechanical world view were being used as general descriptions of nineteenth-century physicists' assumptions and interpretations of nature. However, there were no studies of the particulars of these assumptions or the range and content of these interpretations. Rene Dugas' work on classical mechanics focused on France. The search for the particulars of these forms of ""mechanics"" led me to explore precisely what mechanics meant to physicists of a century and more ago. However, none of Lagrange's, Hamilton's, or Jacobi's ""mechanics,"" while ele gant, fits easily within the history of physics. Lagrange reduced mechanics to an exercise in analysis; Hamilton and Jacobi used mechanics to explore solutions to partial differential equations. They were mathematicians doing mathematics. As I went deeper into the matter it became obvious that, in the nineteenth century, there were two kinds of mechanics, each containing a variety of forms, one physical, the other mathematical. There were a group of men using mechanics to understand nature and another group using the equations of mechanics to explore the calcu lus. However, when tracing these two traditions back into the eighteenth century, physics disappeared altogether.
Full Product Details
Author: Elizabeth Garber
Publisher: Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Imprint: Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Edition: Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1999
Dimensions:
Width: 15.50cm
, Height: 2.20cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.646kg
ISBN: 9781461272724
ISBN 10: 1461272726
Pages: 399
Publication Date: 10 October 2012
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
Garber discusses an interesting part of scientific development, using examples of theoretical physics and their historical steps. ---Mathematical Reviews Garber argues her case convincingly... A very valuable addition to the existing literature on the history of modern physics. The book is also well written... Those who make an effort to follow the argument will gain many new insights and obtain a fresh outlook at the mathematization of physics in the 18th and 19th centuries. ---Physics World
Garber discusses an interesting part of scientific development, using examples of theoretical physics and their historical steps. ---Mathematical Reviews Garber argues her case convincingly... A very valuable addition to the existing literature on the history of modern physics. The book is also well written... Those who make an effort to follow the argument will gain many new insights and obtain a fresh outlook at the mathematization of physics in the 18th and 19th centuries. ---Physics World
