An Introduction to the Philosophy of Physics

* Combines physics, philosophy, and history in a radical new approach to introducing the philosophy of physics. * Emphasizes the integral role that philosophical analysis plays in physics. * Presents many concrete examples in which struggles with conceptual issues drove innovation in physics. This book combines physics, history, and philosophy in a radical new approach to introducing the philosophy of physics. Accessible to readers with little background in physics or philosophy, this book allows the reader to wrestle with the metaphysical and conceptual problems that drove innovation in physics, from nineteenth-century electromagnetic field theory through relativity and quantum mechanics. Among the topics treated are locality, causality, and scientific explanation; relativity, energy, mass, and the reality of fields; and quantum metaphysics. The book's engaging, non-technical style makes it ideal for those who want to go beyond the equations and discover what physics reveals about reality. This book combines physics, philosophy, and history in a radical new approach to introducing the philosophy of physics. It leads the reader through several central problems in the philosophy of physics by tracing their connections to a single issue: whether a cause must be spatiotemporally local to its effect, or whether action at a distance can occur

Pagina's: 344, Editie: Eerste editie, Paperback, John Wiley & Sons