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Representing Electrons

A Biographical Approach to Theoretical Entities

By: Theodore Arabatzis

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Paperback | 20 December 2005 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
296 Pages

Edition Type
New edition

Dimensions(cm)
2.28 x 1.66 x 0.16

Paperback

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Both a history and a metahistory, Representing Electrons focuses on the development of various theoretical representations of electrons from the late 1890s to 1925 and the methodological problems associated with writing about unobservable scientific entities.

Using the electron-or rather its representation-as a historical actor, Theodore Arabatzis illustrates the emergence and gradual consolidation of its representation in physics, its career throughout old quantum theory, and its appropriation and reinterpretation by chemists. As Arabatzis develops this novel biographical approach, he portrays scientific representations as partly autonomous agents with lives of their own. Furthermore, he argues that the considerable variance in the representation of the electron does not undermine its stable identity or existence.

Raising philosophical issues of contentious debate in the history and philosophy of science-namely, scientific realism and meaning change-Arabatzis addresses the history of the electron across disciplines, integrating historical narrative with philosophical analysis in a book that will be a touchstone for historians and philosophers of science and scientists alike.

Industry Reviews

"Representing Electrons makes an important contribution not only to the historical literature on the history of physics but also to the philosophical literature on realism and theory/meaning change. This is a nice example of how to do history and philosophy of science in practice." - Margaret Morrison, University of Toronto"

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Science Science in General Impact of Science & Technology on Society Physics Nuclear Physics Philosophy Particle & High-Energy Physics History of Science History Quantum Physics & Quantum Mechanics & Quantum Field Theory Philosophy of Science

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Methodological Preliminaries
Introduction
Karl Popper and the Notion of the "Problem Situation"
Scientific Discovery as a Philosophical and Historiographical Category
Several Approaches to the Discovery of Unobservable Entities: A Taxonomy and Critique
Scientific Realism: The Charybdis of Meaning Change
Why Write Biographies of Theoretical Entities?
Rethinking "The Discovery of the Electron"
What Is Wrong with the Received View?
Early-Twentieth-Century Views of the Acceptance of the Electron Hypothesis
The Birth and Infancy of the Representation of the Electron
Introduction
The Birth of the Term "Electron"
The Discovery of the Zeeman Effect: The First Experimental Manifestation of the Electron
Lorentz's "Ion": A Somewhat Startling Hypothesis
Larmor's "Electron"
Thomson's "Corpuscle": A "By No Means Impossible Hypothesis"
Concluding Remarks
The Genesis of the Quantum Electron
Preliminary Remarks
The Electron Migrates to the Quantum World
Concluding Remarks
Between Relativity and Correspondence
Maturing under the Guidance of the Quantum Technologist
Being Disciplined by the "Magic Wand"
Concluding Remarks
"How the Electrons Spend Their Leisure Time": The Chemists' Perspective
Introduction
The Emergence of the Conflict: G. N. Lewis's "Loafer" Electron
A Recapitulation of the Conflict
Irving Langmuir's Elaboration of Lewis's Ideas
Concluding Remarks
Forced to Spin by Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit
The Setting
Becoming Antisocial in the Land of the Formalism-Philistines
A Reactionary Putsch
Concluding Remarks
Identifying the Electron: Meaning Variance and the Historicity of Scientific Realism
Introduction
Historicizing Meaning: Kuhn's and Feyerabend's Antirealist Theses
Putnam's Theory of Meaning and Reference: A Realist Way Out?
Hacking's Entity Realism
A Historicist Approach to Meaning and Reference
On the Electron's Identity: What Would We Need in Order to Claim the Electron Exists?
References
Index
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Representing Electrons

A Biographical Approach to Theoretical Entities

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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