Bedeviled (eBook)

A Shadow History of Demons in Science

Jimena Canales (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2020
416 Seiten
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-0-691-18607-8 (ISBN)

Infos

How scientists through the ages have conducted thought experiments using imaginary entities-demons-to test the laws of nature and push the frontiers of what is possible Science may be known for banishing the demons of superstition from the modern world. Yet just as the demon-haunted world was being exorcized by the enlightening power of reason, a new kind of demon mischievously materialized in the scientific imagination itself. Scientists began to employ hypothetical beings to perform certain roles in thought experiments-experiments that can only be done in the imagination-and these impish assistants helped scientists achieve major breakthroughs that pushed forward the frontiers of science and technology.Spanning four centuries of discovery-from Rene Descartes, whose demon could hijack sensorial reality, to James Clerk Maxwell, whose molecular-sized demon deftly broke the second law of thermodynamics, to Darwin, Einstein, Feynman, and beyond-Jimena Canales tells a shadow history of science and the demons that bedevil it. She reveals how the greatest scientific thinkers used demons to explore problems, test the limits of what is possible, and better understand nature. Their imaginary familiars helped unlock the secrets of entropy, heredity, relativity, quantum mechanics, and other scientific wonders-and continue to inspire breakthroughs in the realms of computer science, artificial intelligence, and economics today.The world may no longer be haunted as it once was, but the demons of the scientific imagination are alive and well, continuing to play a vital role in scientists' efforts to explore the unknown and make the impossible real.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 10.11.2020
• Zusatzinfo: 16 b/w illus.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Metaphysik / Ontologie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie
• Schlagworte: Ad hoc hypothesis • AI • Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton • Alan Turing • Alhazen • Astronomer • Astronomy • atomic bomb • Atomic physics • Automaton • biologist • Biology • Brownian motion • Bruno Latour • Calculation • Cartesian • Charles Darwin • Classical physics • Communication theory • Copyright • Cybernetics • daemon • Demonology • disaster • Dissipation • Emergence • Entropy • Erwin Schrödinger • Ethics of Technology • Eugene Wigner • Evil demon • Evolution • Existence • Explanation • Fiction • French Revolution • Gravity • Grete Hermann • Grimoire • Henri Bergson • hypothesis • Illustration • inference • Information Theory • Instant • Interpretations of quantum mechanics • Irrationality • Irreversible process • Johann von Neumann • John von Neumann • Karl Pearson • Laplace's demon • Laplace’s demon • laws of thermodynamics • Lecture • legendary creature • Logical Positivism • Louis de Broglie • Marie Curie • Marvin Minsky • Materialism • mathematician • Max Born • Max Planck • Maxwell's demon • Maxwell’s Demon • Measurement • Michel Serres • microscope • modern philosophy • Modern Physics • Molecule • narrative • Natural selection • Norbert Wiener • Nuclear power • Oliver G. Selfridge • On the Origin of Species • organism • Pandemonium • Paul Samuelson • perpetual motion • phenomenon • Philosopher • Philosophy • Photon • Physical law • physicist • Pierre Bourdieu • Prediction • Probability • Quantity • quantum indeterminacy • quantum mechanics • radioactivity • Reality • reason • Religion and Science • result • Richard Feynman • Science • Scientific American • Scientific progress • Scientist • second law of thermodynamics • Statistical Mechanics • Subatomic particle • Technology • Temperature • The New York Times • theoretical physics • theory • theory of heat • Theory of relativity • The Philosopher • thermodynamics • Thomas Kuhn • Thought • Thought experiment • Time Travel • treatise • Uncertainty • Uncertainty Principle • Virtual Reality • Werner Heisenberg • World War II
• ISBN-10: 0-691-18607-3 / 0691186073
• ISBN-13: 978-0-691-18607-8 / 9780691186078