Philosophy of science Books

Book SynopsisThis book explores an evolutionary theory of scientific knowledge, and provides the basis for a new linguistic approach to methodology.Including an original essay by the late Thomas Kuhn, this volume takes inspiration from his work in history and the philosophy of sciences. The authors highlight the critical importance of the relationship between the process of learning a language and translation, and use this to examine scientific language and interpretation. They also analyse the relationship between grammatical structure and theoretical communication in science and apply their findings to the rhetoric of Smith and Keynes. They assess the pragmatical dimension of language in the construction of knowledge, and examine its role in explaining economic behaviour and in interpreting the relationship between economics and philosophy. Finally, the authors analyse the relationship between incommensurable standards and translation from the point of view of the logical structure of lexicon, and examine the traditional theme of the 'unity of science' across the whole spectrum of humanities and the social sciences.Table of ContentsContents: Preface Part I: Incommensurability, Translation and Theory Change Part II: Communicating Science Part III: Cognition and Formal Reconstruction Part IV: Lexicon and Semantics Index

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Book SynopsisThis open access textbook offers a practical guide into research ethics for undergraduate students in the social sciences. A step-by-step approach of the most viable issues, in-depth discussions of case histories and a variety of didactical tools will aid the student to grasp the issues at hand and help him or her develop strategies to deal with them. This book addresses problems and questions that any bachelor student in the social sciences should be aware of, including plagiarism, data fabrication and other types of fraud, data augmentation, various forms of research bias, but also peer pressure, issues with confidentiality and questions regarding conflicts of interest. Cheating, ‘free riding’, and broader issues that relate to the place of the social sciences in society are also included. The book concludes with a step-by-step approach designed to coach a student through a research application process.Table of ContentsIntroduction.- Part I: Perspectives.- Chapter 1. Science.- Chapter 2. Ethics.- Part II: Ethics and Misconduct.- Chapter 3. Plagiarism.- Chapter 4. Fabrication.- Chapter 5. Falsifying.- Part III: Ethics and Trust.- Chapter 6. Confidentiality.- Chapter 7. Science and Society.- Chapter 8. Science and Politics.- Part IV: Forms, Codes and of types Regulations.- Chapter 9. Research Ethics Step by Step.- Appendix.- Indexes.

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Book SynopsisIs everything Information? This is a tantalizing question which emerges in modern physics, life sciences, astronomy and in today’s information and technology-driven society. In Powers of Two expert authors undertake a unique expedition - in words and images - throughout the world (and scales) of information. The story resembles, in a way, the classic Powers of Ten journeys through space: from us to the macro and the micro worlds . However, by following Powers of Two through the world of information, a completely different and timely paradigm unfolds. Every power of two, 1, 2, 4, 8…. tells us a different story: starting from the creation of the very first bit at the Big Bang and the evolution of life, through 50 years of computational science, and finally into deep space, describing the information in black holes and even in the entire universe and beyond…. All this to address one question: Is our universe made of information? In this book, we experience the Information Universe in nature and in our society and how information lies at the very foundation of our understanding of the Universe.From the Foreword by Robbert Dijkgraaf: This book is in many ways a vastly extended version of Shannon’s one-page blueprint. It carries us all the way to the total information content of the Universe. And it bears testimony of how widespread the use of data has become in all aspects of life. Information is the connective tissue of the modern sciences. […] Undoubtedly, future generations will look back at this time, so much enthralled by Big Data and quantum computers, as beholden to the information metaphor. But that is exactly the value of this book. With its crisp descriptions and evocative illustrations, it brings the reader into the here and now, at the very frontier of scientific research, including the excitement and promise of all the outstanding questions and future discoveries.Message for the e-reader of the book Powers of Two The book has been designed to be read in two-page spreads in full screen mode. For optimal reader experience in a downloaded .pdf file we strongly recommend you use the following settings in Adobe Acrobat Reader: - Taskbar: View > Page Display > two page view - Taskbar: View > Page Display > Show Cover Page in Two Page View - Taskbar: ^ Preferences > Full Screen > deselect " Fill screen with one page at a time" - Taskbar: View > Full screen mode or ctrl L (cmd L on a Mac) ***** Note: for reading the previews on Spinger link (and on-line reading in a browser), the full screen two-page view only works with these browsers: Firefox - Taskbar: on top of the text, at the uppermost right you will see then >> (which is a drop-down menu) >> even double pages - Fullscreen: F11 or Control+Cmd+F with Mac Edge - Taskbar middle: Two-page view and select show cover page separatelyTrade Review“The book … a very unusual collection of some facts about the relationship between the immaterial world represented by bits and the real physical world described by fundamental physical equations. This book continues the very categorical point of view of J. A. Wheeler … . The book presents short articles on various areas of modern science … in which it is shown that in these areas in some mysterious way there is a connection with the theory of information.” (Vladimir Dzhunushaliev, zbMATH 1479.83004, 2022)Table of ContentsForeword by Robbert DijkgraafChapter 0: IntroductionJoy-riding the Universe – by the authorWorking as an astronomer, data scientist and professor of astro-informatics for nearly fifty years, Edwin Valentijn has witnessed and first-hand engineered the dawn of the era of Big Data in science and society. Throughout his career, he became increasingly aware of the role of information in our world: in computers, in our society, and even in nature and in the Universe itself.The Information UniverseFollowing the increasing powers of two, the story paints a journey through the whole world of information, both in society and in nature. Each step opens a door into a new world: from the first bits with the Big Bang and the dawn of life, going through fifty years of human technology, all the way up to the information content of the whole Universe.What is Information? - Item pageThe basics of information are introduced.Chapter 1: The beginningSpace-time foam – Ti (0 bit: 20 =1)The very first power of two: 20, corresponds to the value one. This identifies the single, eternal, indistinguishable state: the primordial sea from which our Universe emerged – sometimes called the Space-time foam. I call this Ti, the reverse of It. This is one of the miraculous new notions in the story of the Powers of Two.Multiverse: Anthropic principle (Item page)From Ti, the primordial space-time foam, countless universes arise with widely different characteristics: the Multiverse. The Anthropic Principle is a philosophical consideration which states that we, people, will find ourselves in a universe that is suitable for intelligent life to emerge. Therefore, this Principle demonstrates that conditions in our Universe are not “fine-tuned” to the existence of human life and a “creator” doesn’t exist.Big bang (1 bit: 21 =2 states)At the Big Bang the first bit is created. From the indistinguishable unity of the primordial foam Ti, “the zeros were separated from the 1’s”: the first bit corresponds to two possible states. This bit is the first step on our journey to capture the ever-increasing complexity of our expanding Universe in terms of information, through the increasing powers of two.What is a bit? (Item page)The bit is at the core of the concept of information. A bit is any system that can have two states. Humans assign meanings to these states, which are illustrated with the concept of the traffic light: red or green, stop or go. The combination of multiple bits creates an exponentially increasing number of possible states, and hence meanings.Multicellular life (2 bit: 22 =4 states) / (4 bit: 24 =16 states)?Life started with exchanging information between cells. This is fundamental for the evolution of any kind of life. It took at least two billion years for uni-cellular to evolve into multi-cellular organisms around 600 million years ago, and to start the exchange of information between their different cells. By exchanging information, cells collaborate and act as a unified whole: life.The game of life (Item page)The characteristic features of life (or any complex system in the Universe) can be created from information. A simple computer game is all you need to demonstrate this concept. A famous example is Conway's Game of Life, which is full of visuals of living, growing, moving and dying objects. This game was already made on the computers of the early 70's with just a few lines of code.Chapter 2: People's Information UniverseASCII (7 bit: 27 =128 states)There is currently no physical theory how the digital world connects to the human consciousness. In the world of Information Technology (IT) all information exchange is based on agreements between people. For instance, ASCII, a simple list relating each letter of the alphabet to a 7-bit string, connects the digital world to the human consciousness. Machu Picchu (8 bit: 28 =256, 1 byte)The Intiwatana stone, a giant rock carved by the Inca's of ancient Machu Picchu in Peru, can be considered as a first 8-bit hard disk. Why so? As the sunrays lit the different surfaces of this huge rock throughout the year, it triggered the Inca's activities: sowing, harvesting, celebrating and praying.This ancient stone dissolves both the boundaries between heaven and earth, and those between the digital and natural Information Universe. In fact, the stone represents an ultimate picture of the cross-over between the in vivo and the in vitro Information Universe - a main theme of the book. In vitro being the man made technology to handle information and in vivo being the information built in nature, in this case the orbit and the light rays of the sun.First computers (16 bit: 216 =65.536, 2 byte)When computers emerged in the 1970's, astronomers first adopted them to steer their telescopes. Back then, a maximal effort to understand the mathematics of the problem was needed to squeeze the solution into the small computer memory. Nowadays, with large amounts of computing power and machine learning at their disposal, scientists and computer programmers often do the reverse.Star Peace vs. Star Wars (Item page)King Juan Carlos adored the harmony of galaxies as a source of inspiration for people on earth, in those days when Ronald Reagan was promoting his Star-wars programme. With this adoration in mind, in 1985, he gave an inspiring speech at the Royal inauguration of the international astronomical observatory on La Palma, Canary Islands. The inauguration was attended by, for those days, an unprecedented large crowd of European royals and government officials despite the great threat of terrorist attacks by the ETA. (the next and later spreads on facts vs fakes elucidate the relevance of this spread in the story line).Pre-internet Facts and Fakes (Item page)“Edwin Valentijn saved the life of the Dutch Queen Beatrix by catching her just before falling off a cliff at the inauguration on La Palma”, according to the headlines in Dutch newspapers. Fake news-stories are at all times alike and can only be dispelled by tracing links of information to their source, links or associations being a fundamental property of the Information Universe. Later, I discuss the less innocent case of overdrawing attention to terrorist attacks in the past decade.Hard disk (24 bit: 224 =1.6*107, 2 Mb)Only sixty years ago, a 5 MB hard disk weighed over five tons, and had to be loaded onto an aeroplane by using a truck. Now, we carry a thousand times more information in our trouser pocket. This demonstrates the amazing advance of information technology over the past decades. (Picture: first IBM hard disk loaded onto a plane).The telephone (Item page) As a precursor of the Internet, the telephone offered many of the same advantages and dangers, and was heavily discussed at its introduction. Whether telephone or the Internet, it all revolves around communication or copying of information. The telephone, as example of it, is one of the major discoveries of the 20th century. DNA (32 bit: 232 = 4*109, 500 Mb) – Guest author: Charley Lineweaver The information in the DNA creates life. All base pairs of the human DNA can be stored on a 500 Mb drive. How is this information communicated? How does a cell know it has to build part of a liver and not an eye, while they all have the same DNA? Apoptosis and the role of information exchange.Where does biological Information come from? (Item page) – Guest author: Charley Lineweaver Charley Lineweaver, expert on evolutionary biology, exoplanetology and astrobiology, will expand on the role of information in the evolution of life.Lifelines (Item page) – Guest author: Morris SwertzWhat is the role of nature versus that of nurture? A key question in modern health research. In Lifesciences, this question is addressed now using Big Data, like the astronomers who acquire huge data volumes to address the same question on the nature of galaxies. In Lifelines, a cohort of 165.000 people is studied over a period of 30 years using hospital data, blood samples and DNA scans.DVD (33 bit: 233 =9*109, 1 Gb)It’ s amazing how fast the digital image revolution went since 1989.30 years ago, Philips lab approached me since they had made a big discovery: it was possible to store many digital images on a CD. They were chasing me for digital images. While NASA had less than a thousand, I had 32.000 galaxy images obtained by scanning photographic plates from the European Southern Observatory – the first large digital image collection.Human Brain (36 bit: 236 =7*1010, 9 Gb) – Guest author: Katrin Amunts- JulichIn the large EU human brain project, the activities of the human brain are simulated in computers. This is a very difficult mission since the transistors in computers consume 100.000 billion times more energy than the synapsis of neurons. Our brains consist of 1011 neurons, corresponding to 9 Gb of data.Thinking of Karlheinz Meier, coordinator of the Human Brain Project in Heidelberg, Katrin Amunts will author two spreads on the role of information in the human brain.Neuromorphic computing – Guest author: Katrin AmuntsCurrently, it takes a hundred years of a supercomputer’s time to compete with the learning power of only a single day of the human brain. “Neuromorphic computing” researchers design electronic systems inspired by the human brain, in order to make computers many times faster and more energy efficient.CT scan (38 bit: 238 =3*1011, 34 Gb) – Guest author: Anders YnnermanNow it is possible to look inside animal and human bodies on touchscreens. Forensic investigations on, for instance, corpses of victims can be done with touch-screen tables. You can look inside, rotate, scroll and zoom animal and human bodies using tens of gigabytes of CT scan data. Prof. Anders Ynnerman explains how he does it.Terabytes (45 bit: 245 =4.4*1012, 1 Tb) - The largest (astronomical) datasetsDark energy and dark matter: two mysterious constituents of our Universe. How do astronomers get and handle the data from the VLT Survey Telescope on a high mountain top in Chile to shed lights on these ‘still too dark’ topics. This Telescope surveys the sky every hour at night generating Terabytes of astronomical data.Gravity as a lens (Item page) – Guest author: Margot BrouwerWhen light rays are bent by the gravity of a heavy object, this object acts as a lens. This effect can be used to map dark matter, which is invisible but constitutes 80% of the matter in our visible Universe. In 1915, Albert Einstein posed that gravity is equivalent to the curvature of the fabric of space and time itself, leading to the lensing effect.Weak gravitational lensing surveys – Guest author: Margot BrouwerTerabytes of astronomical data are reduced to a few numbers, describing how dark matter behaves and what is its true nature. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCyYGWqCmFw&t=23sEntering the Petabyte regime (53 bit: 253 =1*1015, 1 Pb)How do we technically acquire and deal with Petabytes of data?Dark Matter maps (Item page)A first dark matter map projected on the night sky. An ultimate encounter between the digital world of modern astronomical observations, and nature: the mysterious dark matter mapped on top of the everyday “night” stellar sky. A visualization that condenses Terabytes of astronomical data to a simple map.Metadata for Peta-data (62 bit: 262 =6*1017, 600 Pb)With pointers, one can connect everything in the Information Universe. Pointers are often inserted in Metadata (data about data) - an ultimate tool for dealing with Big Data. It is possible to create unique pointers to hundreds of Petabytes of data, using a string of less than 64 bits. This is what makes pointers so powerful and indispensable in current and future stages of the big data era; not only for astronomical research, but also for companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook.Downloading the Universe (Item page)The universe can be seen as a spreadsheet, certainly in the way we map it on our computers (in vitro), but also in nature (in vivo). Perceiving the Universe as a spreadsheet links bit to It.Meta data (Item page)A visualisation of the enormous complexity of data models which trace all pointers between data items. (picture: thrilling still from a full dome animation of a data model)Future (astronomical) datasets (item page)While current telescopes collect astronomical datasets of Terabytes, future telescopes such as the LSST and the Euclid satellite, instead, will collect Petabytes. These enormous amounts of data need a whole new approach to data management. For the Euclid satellite my “Universe as a spreadsheet” approach has been adopted.The Euclid satellite (Item page) – Guest author: Margot BrouwerEuclid is ESA’s new space mission to map the Dark Universe. At a distance of 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, this telescope will observe billions of galaxies. Its goal: to shed light on the nature of Dark Matter and Dark Energy, which make up 95% of our Universe. Dr. Margot Brouwer, Dutch scientific communication officer for Euclid, will explain more.The Information Universe (Item page)The resemblance of the overall structure of the real observed Universe (in vivo) with the simulated universe (in vitro), based on the concurrent cosmological model, gave a lot of credit to the latter. When we zoom out the Universe, we see billions of galaxies forming a web-like structure. Amazingly, astronomers can now compute and simulate these structures with very large supercomputers.The lost boy (Item page)Information is timeless, and knows no boundaries. It crosses over the in vivo and the in vitro Information Universe. This concept is well illustrated through daily life stories involving time. At the age of five, a boy loses sight of his older brother on a train in India, and eventually gets lost on the streets of Mumbai. Twenty years later, after being adopted by a family in Australia, he is able to find his natural mother (in vivo) through only searching on Google maps (in vitro).Qbits (50 qbit: 250 =1.1*1015 qbit, 1 Pbit) – Guest author: Lieven VandersypenUsing fundamental particles (quanta, such as electrons) to perform calculations and build computers, is one of the most exciting cross-overs between the in vivo and the in vitro Information Universe. Prof. Lieven Vandersypen, who leads a Quantum Computing group at TU Delft in the Netherlands, will explain how this technology will change the way we compute.Quantum entanglement (Item page) – Guest author: Lieven VandersypenThe states of two particles can be intimately linked (entangled), no matter how far they are separated. What Einstein famously dismissed as “spooky action at a distance”, can now be established on demand at TU Delft in the Netherlands. Prof. Vandersypen will explain how his research group, for the first time ever, both create and apply this entanglement in laboratory.Entanglement (item page) - EVThe Square Kilometre Array (64 bit: 264 =1.3*1018, 1 Eb) – Guest author: TBAThe Square Kilometre Telescope will collect data at the rate of the global internet traffic of 2013, in its endeavour to answer fundamental questions about the origin and evolution of the Universe, and its search for extra-terrestrial life.Cryptography (128 bit: 2128 =3.4*1038) – Guest author Tanja LangeEncrypted messages should not be decoded by adversaries, be they criminals or hostile countries. Cryptography enables secure communications and is one of the few applications which require 128-bit numbers. A guest author will explain more.Chapter 3: Deep spaceThe Desert (128-256 bit) Theoretical physics is not progressing much in the last decennia – some call it a crisis. Likely, an observational breakthrough is out of reach: the highest man-made information density on earth is produced by the high energy accelerators at CERN. But these accelerators have to be 1013 -1015 more powerful to reach the fundamental unit of information, which is probably at the same level of the Planck length. Unfortunately, there is no way to reach this unit of information with these instruments. This enormous gap in reaching all the domains in the Information Universe is illustrated in a figure and in a very sobering, but instructive table in the Appendix.Black holes (128-256 bit?) – Guest author: Manus VisserCan information disappear into a black hole? The Information paradox. Stephen Hawking wondered it and started a field in which space and time are described in terms of information. Dr. Manus Visser, expert on gravity and space-time, will explain more.Observing a Black Hole: Event Horizon Telescope – Guest author: Heino FalckeThe first image of a black hole. Prof. Heino Falcke, chair of the Event Horizon Telescope Science Council, will explain how information from a world-wide network of telescopes was combined using atomic clocks, to create the first ever image of a black hole. (Picture: first image of a black hole)Cogwheels: a deeper level – Guest author: Gerard 't HooftNobel laureate ‘t Hooft explains his views on cogwheels, carrying the fundamental information in the Universe.Gravitational waves – Guest author: Chris van den BroeckLinks: The Universe as a spreadsheetLinks, joins, references, URLs, blockchain, associations and even entanglement in physics are all different words for the same building block, forming the connections in the Information Universe.Cosmic Microwave Background – Guest author: Margot BrouwerParticles of light created in the hot and dense state of the Universe after the Big Bang are still flying through the Universe today. Together, these 1077 photons contain the largest amount of information known in the Universe. This information can still be accessed through telescopes, and brings us invaluable information about the dawn of our Universe.Emergent Gravity – Guest author: Erik VerlindeProf. Erik Verlinde, professor of theoretical physics at the University of Amsterdam, won the Spinoza prize for his new theory explaining gravity. In his theory, all matter, space and time consist of information and are all connected by entanglement. If this theory is correct, the information content of the entire Universe is 2399. This is the highest power described in this book, and actually, in physics.Chapter 4: It from BitOne big information processing machine – Guest author: Gerard 't Hooft (TBC)t Hooftt Hooft: : ““there is something happening at a different level of nature”there is something happening at a different level of nature”..On the origin of physical information. – Guest author: Stefano GottardiThe ear In the ear information is copied a dozen times!The eye – on the visual perception of data- climate change. Links to - facts and fakes- the system of ScienceThe System of ScienceHow does this system work? Discussing Hegel’s system of science, logic, technology, Nature, life, physics, consciousness.Artificial IntelligenceThe machine learning and the data-base oriented communities are still living on different planets. I discuss and revisit Tegmark’s recent book Life 3.0 by comparing 3 crosscuts through the Information Universe: i) the classical computer centric view ii) the data centric view iii) the artificial intelligence view.Information densityThe average information density of the universe can be compared to that of written text.Black Body radiation On the information aspects of the third big physical breakthrough of the 20th century (next to General relativity and quantum mechanics).EntropyDiscussing Shannon’s work and identifying that “Information only exists in relation to its environment”. Examples will be given.Cosmic information, cosmogenesis and dark energy by PadmanabhanCosmic information connects the cosmological constant to cosmogenesisIt from BitIs the Universe one big information processing machine?ConsciousnessVery little is known about the consciousness and I refrain from addressing the consciousness per se. A relevant list of about 5 facts we do know are listed. Any view on the relation between the consciousness and the Information Universe should at least deal with this list.Somnium – Musician Jacco Gardner performing at DOTLiveplanetarium at Eurosonic 2019 show case music festival- Inspired by Kepler’s Somnium – directed by EV The Information UniverseAn overview.Facts and fakesHow is all this related to the current facts and fakes issues on the Internet? How do you make sure that what you are reading is accurate and comes from a reliable source?The link between Open Science, FAIR and reliability of data.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides both an introduction to the philosophy of scientific modeling and a contribution to the discussion and clarification of two recent philosophical conceptions of models: artifactualism and fictionalism. These can be viewed as different stances concerning the standard representationalist account of scientific models. By better understanding these two alternative views, readers will gain a deeper insight into what a model is as well as how models function in different sciences.Fictionalism has been a traditional epistemological stance related to antirealist construals of laws and theories, such as instrumentalism and inferentialism. By contrast, the more recent fictional view of models holds that scientific models must be conceived of as the same kind of entities as literary characters and places. This approach is essentially an answer to the ontological question concerning the nature of models, which in principle is not incompatible with a representationalist account of the function of models. The artifactual view of models is an approach according to which scientific models are epistemic artifacts, whose main function is not to represent the phenomena but rather to provide epistemic access to them. It can be conceived of as a non-representationalist and pragmatic account of modeling, which does not intend to focus on the ontology of models but rather on the ways they are built and used for different purposes. The different essays address questions such as the artifactual view of idealization, the use of information theory to elucidate the concepts of abstraction and idealization, the deidealization of models, the nature of scientific fictions, the structural account of representation and the ontological status of structures, the role of surrogative reasoning with models, and the use of models for explaining and predicting physical phenomena.Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction: Theories, Models, and Scientific Representations (Alejandro Cassini and Juan Redmond).- Chapter 2. An Artifactual Perspective on Idealization: Constant Capacitance and the Hodgkin and Huxley Model (Natalia Carrillo and Tarja Knuuttila).- Chapter 3. Informative Models: Idealization and Abstraction (Mauricio Suárez and Agnes Bolinska).- Chapter 4. Deidealized Models (Alejandro Cassini).- Chapter 5. Scientific Representation as Ensemble-Plus-Sanding-for: A Moderate Fictionalist Account (José A. Díez).- Chapter 6. Seven Myths About the Fiction View of Models (Roman Frigg and James Nguyen).- Chapter 7. Bridging the Gap: The Artefactual View Meets the Fiction View of Models (Fiora Salis).- Chapter 8. Models as Hypostatizations: The Case of Supervaluationism in Semantics (Manuel García-Carpintero).- Chapter 9. Structural Representation and the Ontology of Models (Otávio Bueno).- Chapter 10. Representation and Surrogate Reasoning: A Proposal from Dialogical Pragmatism (Juan Redmond).- Chapter 11. Prediction and Explanation by Theoretical Models:An Instrumentalist Stance (Andrés Rivadulla).- Chapter 12. Commented Bibliography on Models and Idealizations (Alejandro Cassini).- Name Index.- Subject Index.-

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the premise that a physical theory is an interpretation of the analytico–canonical formalism. Throughout the text, the investigation stresses that classical mechanics in its Lagrangian formulation is the formal backbone of theoretical physics. The authors start from a presentation of the analytico–canonical formalism for classical mechanics, and its applications in electromagnetism, Schrödinger's quantum mechanics, and field theories such as general relativity and gauge field theories, up to the Higgs mechanism.The analysis uses the main criterion used by physicists for a theory: to formulate a physical theory we write down a Lagrangian for it. A physical theory is a particular instance of the Lagrangian functional. So, there is already an unified physical theory. One only has to specify the corresponding Lagrangian (or Lagrangian density); the dynamical equations are the associated Euler–Lagrange equations. The theory of Suppes predicates as the main tool in the axiomatization and examples from the usual theories in physics. For applications, a whole plethora of results from logic that lead to interesting, and sometimes unexpected, consequences.This volume looks at where our physics happen and which mathematical universe we require for the description of our concrete physical events. It also explores if we use the constructive universe or if we need set–theoretically generic spacetimes.Trade Review“This book is a compilation, ‘an essay’, of the bulk of their work from 1990 to the present. This 191 page essay includes some historical background and lots of snippets and parts of da Costa and Doria’s work on the meta-mathematics of mathematical physics. It starts with a primer on graduate-level basic physics … ending with a consideration of hypercomputation.” (Deborah Konkowski, zbMATH 1494.00005, 2022)Table of ContentsForeword1. PreliminaryPart I. Physics: A Primer2. Classical mechanics3. Variational calculus4. Lagrangian formulation5. Hamilton’s equations6. Hamilton–Jacobi theory7. Where the action is8. From classical to quantum9. Field theory10. Electromagnetism11. Special relativity12. General relativity13. Gauge field theoriesPart II. Axiomatics14. Axiomatizations in ZFCPart III. Technicalities15. HierarchiesPart IV. More applications16. Arnol’d’s 1974 problems17. Forcing and gravitation18. Economics and ecology.Part V. Computer science19. Fast–growing functionsPart VI. Hypercomputation20. HypercomputationReferences

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Book SynopsisThis authoritative volume presents a detailed analysis of the replication crisis and the use of questionable research practices (QRPs) in psychology, as well as recommended practices for combatting these problems. Ultimately, the book aims to provide a comprehensive, current, and accessible account of the adverse effects of QRPs.The replication crisis in psychology and allied fields has exposed critical flaws in the standard views of research methods, which allow for extensive flexibility in data analysis by investigators and permit the widespread use of QRPs. Chapters examine the intentional use of QRPs such as data fabrication and falsification, along with subtler, unintentional practices such as p-hacking and HARKING (hypothesizing after results are known). Drawing on the growing awareness of these problems, contributors also highlight potential strategies to detect QRPs and minimize their negative impact through open data practices, preregistration of hypotheses and analyses, and adversarial collaborations, in which investigators holding opposing positions on a scientific issue agree to work together on a study in an effort to counteract their respective biases. Among the topics covered: History of controversies in statistics and replication Embracing intellectual humility while designing research Confirmatory vs. exploratory analyses Publication bias and negative results Promoting honest and transparent report writing Avoiding Questionable Research Practices in Applied Psychology provides a deeper understanding of how QRPs impede the reliability and trustworthiness of findings in psychology and the social sciences. It will be a practical, useful resource for students and instructors in graduate and advanced undergraduate level research methods classes, along with psychological researchers interested in improving their own research. Table of Contents1. What are Questionable Research Practices?.- 2. The Logic of Research and Questionable Research Methods.- 3. Heuristics and Biases, Intellectual Humility, and Research Design.- 4. History of Replication Failures in Psychology.- 5. P Hacking.- 6. Methods of Detecting QRPs, Such as p curve Analysis.- 7. Controversies Regarding Null Hypothesis Testing.- 8. HARKING and Confirmatory vs. Exploratory Analyses.- 9. History of Statistical Controversies.- 10. Publication Bias and Negative Results.- 11. Power Analysis and Underpowered Studies.- 12. Controversies in Single Subject Designs.- 13. Ignoring Problematic Psychometrics.- 14. Honest and Transparent Report Writing.- 15. Effect Size Measurement.- 16. Pre-registration Models.- 17. Adversarial Research.- 18. Open Data.- 19. Replication Project.- 20. Summary: Designing, Conducting, and Reporting Research.

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Book SynopsisThis open access book offers new insights into the Venetian physician Sanctorius Sanctorius (1561–1636) and into the origins of quantification in medicine. At the turn of the seventeenth century, Sanctorius developed instruments to measure and quantify physiological change. As trivial as the quantitative assessment of health issues might seem to us today – in times of fitness trackers and smart watches – it was highly innovative at that time. With his instruments, Sanctorius introduced quantitative research into the field of physiology. Historical accounts of Sanctorius and his work tend to tell the story of a genius who, almost out of the blue, invented a new medical science, based on measurement and quantification, that profoundly influenced modernity. Abandoning the “genius narrative,” this book examines Sanctorius and his work in the broader perspective of processes of knowledge transformation in early modern medicine. It is the first systematic study to include the entire range of the physician’s intellectual and practical activities. Adopting a material culture perspective, the research draws on the contemporary reconstruction of Sanctorius’s most famous instrument: the Sanctorian weighing chair. And here it departs from past studies that focus mainly on Sanctorius’s thinking rather than on his making and doing. The book also re-evaluates Sanctorius’s role in the wider process of the early transformation of medical culture in the early modern period, a process that ultimately led to the abandonment of Galenic medicine and to the introduction of a new medical science, based on the use of quantification and measurement in medical research. The book is therefore an important contribution to the history of medicine and historical epistemology aimed at historians of science and philosophy.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements.- Preface (Dr. Matteo Valleriani).- Introduction.- List of Figures.- Abbreviations and Short Titles.- Chapter 1. Sanctorius Sanctorius—Between Koper and Venice.- Chapter 2. Sanctorius’s Galenism.- Chapter 3. Sanctorius’s Work in its Practical Context.- Chapter 4. Quantification in Galenic Medicine.- Chapter 5. Quantification and Certainty.- Chapter 6. The Measuring Instruments.- Chapter 7. Sanctorius Revisited.- List of Appendices.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a comprehensive investigation into the concept of typicality and its significance for physics and the philosophy of science. It identifies typicality as a fundamental way of reasoning, central to how natural laws explain and are tested against phenomena. The book discusses various applications of typicality to foundational questions in physics and beyond.These include: a unified interpretation of objective probabilities in classical mechanics and quantum mechanics a detailed discussion of Boltzmann's statistical mechanics, entropy, and the second law of thermodynamics a novel account of the asymmetry of causation and the arrow of time Finally, the book turns to the question: "What are laws of nature"? It argues that typicality extends to a powerful way of reasoning in metaphysics that can and should inform our commitments about the fundamental ontology of the world. On this basis, it develops an argument against the Humean best system account, according to which laws of nature are merely an efficient summary of contingent regularities. Table of Contents1. Introduction.- Part I: Probability.- 2. Typicality in Probability Theory.- 3. Cournot’s Principle.- 4. A Typicality Theory of Probability.- 5. The Mentaculus: Typicality versus Humean Chances.- 6. The Structure of Typicality.- Part II: Physics.- 7. From the Universe to Subsystems.- 8. Boltzmann’s Statistical Mechanics.- 9. It’s Complicated: The Relationship of Physics and Mathematics.- 10. Boltzmann Equation and the H-theorem.-11. Past Hypothesis and the Arrow of Time.-12. Causality and the Arrow of Time.-13. Quantum Mechanics.- Part III: Beyond Physics.-14. Other Applications of Typicality.-15. Special Science Laws.-16. Typicality and the Metaphysics of Laws.- Appendix A Time-reversal Invariance.- Appendix B Proof of Theorems

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Book SynopsisIntroduction (Manuel Gustavo Isaac, Steffen Koch, & Kevin Scharp).- 1 How language teaches and misleads: ‘Coronavirus’ and ‘social distancing’ as case studies (Ethan Landes).- 2 Psychiatric kinds and the DSM: Notes from a conceptual building site (Rachel Cooper).- 3 Conceptual engineering of medical concepts (Elisabetta Lalumera).- 4 Rethinking the ocean: Conceptual engineering for the next 10000 years (Roberto Casati, Sacha Bourgeois-Gironde, Emilie Flamme, Alberto Gallace, Quentin Hiernaux, Stefano Malatesta, Marcella Schmidt di Friedberg, Enrico Squarcina, Colomban de Vargas, Eva Wanek).- 5 Conceptual engineering, semantic tolerance, and flexibility (Genoveva Martí & Lorena Ludeña-Ramírez).- 6 Labeling unlabeled identities (Katherine Ritchie).- 7 Conspiracy theories are not theories: Time to rename conspiracy theories (Kevin Reuter & Lucien Baumgartner).

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Book SynopsisChapter 1. INTRODUCTION.- PART I: IMMANENCE, METAPHYSICS AND GIVENNESS.- Chapter 2. Different Conceptions of Immanence.- Chapter 3. Immanence without Givenness.- PART II: OUTLINE OF A FRACTURED IMMANENT ONTOLOGY.- Chapter 4. Toward a Process Nominalist Ontology.- Chapter 5. Nominalism, Emergence and Process.- Chapter 6. A Novel Account of Grounding.- PART III: NORMATIVE SPACES, HYPERSTITION AND PROCESS.- Chapter 7. Norms and Facts as Fractured Projections of Processual Reality.- Chapter 8. Normativity as a Hyperstitional Dynamic Regime PART.- PART IV: FREEDOM AND POLITICS IN AN IMMANENTLY FRACTURED WORLD.- Chapter 9. Fractured Freedom and the Emancipatory Force of Universals.- Chapter 10. The Politics of Fractured Immanence.

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Book SynopsisThis textbook introduces the reader to basic problems in the philosophy of science and ethics, mainly by means of examples from medicine. It is based on the conviction that philosophy, medical science, medical informatics, and medical ethics are overlapping disciplines. It claims that the philosophical lessons to learn from the twentieth century are not that nature is a ‘social construction’ and that ‘anything goes’ with respect to methodological and moral rules. Instead, it claims that there is scientific knowledge, but that it is never completely secure; that there are norms, but that they are situation-bound; and that, therefore, it makes good sense to search for scientific truths and try to act in a morally decent way. Using philosophical catchwords, the authors advocate ‘fallibilism’ and ‘particularism’; a combination that might be called ‘pragmatic realism’.

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Book SynopsisHistorically speaking, the majority of efforts in the study of ancient Greek physics have traditionally been devoted either to the analysis of the surviving evidence concerning Presocratic philosophers or to the systematic examination of the Platonic and the Aristotelian oeuvre. The aim of this volume is to discuss the notion of space by focusing on the most representative exponents of the Hellenistic schools and to explore the role played by spatial concepts in both coeval and later authors who, without specifically thematising these concepts, made use of them in a theoretically original way. To this purpose, renowned scholars investigate the philosophical and historical significance of the different conceptions of space endorsed by various thinkers ranging from the end of the Classical period to the middle Imperial age. Thus, the volume brings to light the problematical character of the ancient reflection on this topic.

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Book SynopsisThis manual pulls together—and illustrates with interesting case studies—the variety of specialized and generalized archaeological research strategies that yield new insights into science. Throughout the book there are templates, consisting of questions, to help readers visualize and design their own projects. The manual seeks to be as general as possible, applicable to any society, and so science is defined as the creation of useful knowledge—the kinds of knowledge that enable people to make predictions. The chapters in Part I discuss the scope of the archaeology of science and furnish a conceptual foundation for the remainder of the book. Next, Part II presents several specialized, but widely practiced, research strategies that contribute to the archaeology of science. In order to thoroughly ground the manual in real-life applications, Part III presents lengthy case studies that feature the use of historical and archaeological evidence in the study of scientific activities.Trade Review"A Renaissance man in the best sense of the phrase, the author long ago ventured forth with such archaeological expertise into inter-disciplinary waters...this book attempts to systematize and stake out an archaeological approach to science studies by characterizing scientific activity in behavioral terms" (Tim Webmoor, Archaeolog Blog, 2014)Table of Contents​PART I.- 1 Introduction.-2 Science: A Behavioral Perspective.- 3 The Varieties of Scientific Knowledge.-PART II.- 4 Experimental Archaeology.- 5 Ethnoarchaeology.- 6 Archaeometry.- PART III .- 7 The Artifacts of Modern and Early Modern Science.- 8 Thomas Edison’s Science.- 9 Colonization and Exploration.- 10 Scientific Expeditions to Antarctica.-11 The U.S. Nuclear Establishment.-12 Archaeology of the Space Age.- 13 Discovery Processes.

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Book SynopsisExplores the practical applicability of the philosophy of science to scientific research, but also considers its relevance to practice within the realms of technology, design, crafts, and even within the world of arts and the humanities. The attempt to engage working scientists with the issues raised by the philosophy of science may profitably be extended to examine its applicability to any other fields of knowledge that encompass a problem-solving dimension. Drawing on his experience as a research and development scientist in the biomedical device industry, the author shows how the principles of the philosophy of science illuminate the research process. The book is structured on the concept of the inspirational text; it consists of short chapters, each of which provides an accessible discussion of an aspect of the philosophy of science. Each chapter concludes with a list of practical pointers towards the development of attitudes and skills which will benefit the student researcher. ​Table of ContentsPreface.- Acknowledgements.- 1 Introduction – a personal perspective.- 2 It’s about attitude – and experiments.- 3 What’s the problem?.- 4 Oh no! Something doesn’t fit!.- 5 The solutions to problems.- 6 Observe – what?.- 7 Seeing is not necessarily believing.- 8 Testing hypotheses.- 9 More on induction and , justification and Truth.- 10 Models – useful but not true?.- 11 Just be …… cause.- 12 A Question of Trust.- 13 Science, Non-science and Pseudoscience.- 14 Scientific thinking – being rational?.- 15 Some concluding thoughts.- Index.

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Book SynopsisThis book studies the foundations of quantum theory through its relationship to classical physics. This idea goes back to the Copenhagen Interpretation (in the original version due to Bohr and Heisenberg), which the author relates to the mathematical formalism of operator algebras originally created by von Neumann. The book therefore includes comprehensive appendices on functional analysis and C*-algebras, as well as a briefer one on logic, category theory, and topos theory. Matters of foundational as well as mathematical interest that are covered in detail include symmetry (and its "spontaneous" breaking), the measurement problem, the Kochen-Specker, Free Will, and Bell Theorems, the Kadison-Singer conjecture, quantization, indistinguishable particles, the quantum theory of large systems, and quantum logic, the latter in connection with the topos approach to quantum theory.This book is Open Access under a CC BY licence. Trade Review“Quantum theory has frequent applications in the subjects of quantum information theory and quantum optics. The purpose of this book is to present the foundations of quantum theory in connection with classical physics, from the point of view of classical-quantum duality. … This good book is recommended for mathematicians, physicists, philosophers of physics, researchers and advanced students in this field.” (Michael M. Dediu, Mathematical Reviews, Decemeber, 2017)Table of ContentsIntroduction.- Part I Co(X) and B(H): Classical physics on a finite phase space.- Quantum mechanics on a finite-dimensional Hilbert space.- Classical physics on a general phase space.- Quantum physics on a general Hilbert space.- Symmetry in quantum mechanics.- Part II Between Co(X) and B(H): Classical models of quantum mechanics.- Limits: Small hbar.- Limits: large N.- Symmetry in algebraic quantum theory.- Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking.- The Measurement Problem.- Topos theory and quantum logic.- Appendix A: Finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces.- Appendix B: Basic functional analysis.- Appendix C: Operator algebras.- Appendix D: Lattices and logic.- Appendix E: Category theory and topos theory.- References.

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Book SynopsisZUR 2. AUFLAGE DER DEUTSCHEN AUSGABE Warum eröffnen wir eine Buchreihe über Wissenschafts­ theorie verschiedener Hauptdisziplinen mit einer Neu­ auflage von Hans Reichenbachs Buch "Aufstieg der wissen­ schaftlichen Philosophie", dessen 1. Auflage 1951 in den USA erschien? Weil es sich mit seiner präzisen und ver­ ständlichen Sprache nach siebzehn Jahren immer noch so frisch wie damals liest, weil seine Problematik zwischen Rationalismus und Empirismus, seine Opposition gegen Metaphysik und Ontologie als philosophische Grund­ legung der Naturwissenschaft immer noch in Mittel­ europa aktuell ist. Reichenbach spielt aber trotzdem keinen physikalischen Positivismus gegen Philosophie überhaupt aus, sondern tritt für eine autonome, philoso­ phische Analyse der Physik ein, weil z. B. die Frage, wor­ aus die Materie besteht, "mit Hilfe von physikalischen Experimenten allein nicht beantwortet werden kann, sondern eine solche Analyse erfordert" (S. 199). Ihm genügt auch nicht der "gesunde Menschenverstand", wenn es sich um schwierige wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen handelt (S. 201). Noch ein Beispiel für den Umschlag von Wissenschaft zu Philosophie: Man kann die Geschichte des Weltalls etwa 2 Milliarden Jahre zurückverfolgen. Wenn man nun danach fragt, wie der Urgasball selbst noch ent­ standen ist, wird der Wissenschaftler mit einer solchen Frage zum Philosophen (S. 233). Reichenbach unterschei­ det hier aber Philosophen von spekulativem Typ, die eine Kosmogonie erfanden, welche an die Stelle der Wissen­ schaft ein Märchen setzte oder einen Schöpfungsakt aus dem Nichts annahm, und solche von modernem Typ.Table of ContentsErster Teil Die Wurzeln der Spekulativen Philosophie.- 1· Die Frage.- 2 · Die Suche Nach Allgemeinheit und die Pseudoerklärung.- 3 · Die Suche Nach Absoluter Gewissheit und die Rationalistische Auffassung der Erkenntnis.- 4 · Die Suche Nach Ethischen Leitsätzen und der Kognitiv-Ethische Parallelismus.- 5 · Der Losungsversuch des Empirismus: Sein Erfolg und Sein Versagen.- 6 · Die Doppelnatur der Klassischen Physik: Ihre Empiristische und Ihre Rationalistische Seite.- Zweiter Teil Die Ergebnisse der Wissenschaftlichen Philosophie.- 7 · Der Ursprung der Neuen Philosophie.- 8 · Vom Wesen der Geometrie.- 9 · Was Ist die Zeit?.- 10 · Die naturgesetze.- 11 · Gibt Es Atome?.- 12 · Evolution.- 13 · Die moderne logik.- 14 · Unser Wissen von der Zukunft.- 15 · Zwischenspiel: Hamlets Monolog.- 16 · Die Funktionelle Auffassung der Erkenntnis.- 17 · Das Wesen der Ethik.- 18 · Die Alte und die Neue Philosophie: Ein Vergleich.- Register.

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Book SynopsisSeit der griechischen Antike gehört die Frage, was Wissenschaft ist, zu den wichtigsten Fragestellungen der Philosophie. So hat sich im Laufe der Zeit die Wissenschaftstheorie als philosophische Teildisziplin herausgebildet. Das Lehrbuch bietet eine Einführung in verschiedene Bereiche der Wissenschaftstheorie. Sowohl ihre Hauptrichtungen als auch wichtige systematische Aspekte werden erläutert. Dabei werden neben den Erfahrungswissenschaften die Geisteswissenschaften berücksichtigt. Die theoretischen Ausführungen werden durch Anwendungen auf die Kulturwissenschaften, die Linguistik, Mathematik und Physik illustriert. Beispiele und Übungsaufgaben gewährleisten einen einfachen Zugang zu diesem vielschichtigen Thema.​Table of ContentsI Allgemeine Einführung.- II Hauptrichtungen der Wissenschaftstheorie.- III Systematische Aspekte.- IV Vier Gebiete der speziellen Wissenschaftstheorie.- Anhang.

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Book SynopsisAngesichts anhaltender Diskussionen um die notwendige oder wünschenswerte Förderung von Forschung und Wissenschaft unternimmt das Buch den Versuch, akademische Forschung als ein für demokratische Gesellschaften unverzichtbares Element öffentlicher Debatten und damit der öffentlichen Entscheidungsfindung zu verteidigen. Da Wissenschaft wie Demokratie beide verfahrensorientiert sind, ist ihre historische Verbindung kein Zufall. Vielmehr sind Demokratie und Wissenschaft wechselseitig aufeinander angewiesen. Ökonomisch betrachtet, lässt sich Wissenschaft als ein öffentliches Gut verstehen, das insbesondere für das Funktionieren einer Zivilgesellschaft unverzichtbar ist.Table of ContentsWissenschaft und sozialer Wandel.- Die Ökonomie des Erkennens.- Wissenschaft als öffentliche Vernunft.- Wissenschaft und Zivilgesellschaft.

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Book Synopsis​Die Quantenmechanik ist eine physikalische Theorie für Objekte des Mikrokosmos, also z.B. für Atome oder Elektronen. Sie hat sich bisher bestens bewährt, führt aber dazu, dass wir diesen Objekten Eigenschaften und Relationen zubilligen müssen, die weder mit unserem gesunden Menschenverstand noch mit den Begriffen der klassischen Physik vereinbar sind. Diese Merkwürdigkeiten werden vorgestellt und ihre Bedeutung für unser Erkenntnisvermögen und für ein Weltbild wird diskutiert.Table of Contents Einleitung.- Emergenz bzw. Supervenienz.- Objekte, Merkmale, Relationen.- Begriffe in der klassischen Physik.- Die Merkwürdigkeiten in der Quantenmechanik.- Resumé.

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Book SynopsisThe development of atomic bombs under the auspices of the U. S. Army’s Manhattan Project during World War II is considered to be the outstanding news story of the twentieth century. In this book, a physicist and expert on the history of the Project presents a comprehensive overview of this momentous achievement. The first three chapters cover the history of nuclear physics from the discovery of radioactivity to the discovery of fission, and would be ideal for instructors of a sophomore-level “Modern Physics” course. Student-level exercises at the ends of the chapters are accompanied by answers. Chapter 7 covers the physics of first-generation fission weapons at a similar level, again accompanied by exercises and answers. For the interested layman and for non-science students and instructors, the book includes extensive qualitative material on the history, organization, implementation, and results of the Manhattan Project and the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing missions. The reader also learns about the legacy of the Project as reflected in the current world stockpiles of nuclear weapons. Trade Review“It's accessible and easy to read but covers all the interesting aspects of the Manhattan Project starting with the fascinating scientists and other people that were involved in the project … . I found this book delightfully inclusive and very detailed and as such a perfect book to read if you're interested in the Manhattan Project in general.” (AstroMadness.com, May, 2018)“This new text by Cameron successfully marries the science with the history of the Manhattan Project in 472 pages and 173 illustrations (most of them original). … I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about the history of the Manhattan Project and all the nuclear physics behind the project, which is written in a very approachable and educational way.” (Dimitris Mihailidis, Medical Physics, Vol. 41 (9), September, 2014)“Reed (Alma College) provides a well-written scientific, organizational, military, and diplomatic history of the American (and British!) programs leading to the construction and use of the world’s first nuclear weapon. … The book, part of Springer’s ‘Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics’ series, is well suited for undergraduates and others who have successfully completed a good introductory college physics course. … Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; general readers.” (A. M. Saperstein, Choice, Vol. 51 (9), May, 2014)“This work, published in the Springer Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics series, is intended as a college-level science text on the Manhattan Project, but serves well as a resource for scientists and non-scientists. … Each chapter concludes with problems for students and an extensive bibliography.” (ALSOS Digital Library for Nuclear Issues, alsos.wlu.edu, 2014)Table of ContentsIntroduction and Overview.- A Short History of Nuclear Physics to the Mid-1930s.- The Discovery and Interpretation of Nuclear Fission.- Organizing the Manhattan Project, 1939-1943.- Oak Ridge, CP-1, and the Clinton Engineer Works.- The Hanford Engineer Works.- Los Alamos, Trinity, and Tinian.- Hiroshima and Nagasaki.- The Legacy of Manhattan.- Glossary.

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Book SynopsisThis book is the first academic work on the philosophy of engineering in China that reflects two decades of research. It puts forward a new thesis, namely that the core maxim in the philosophy of engineering is “I create, therefore I am,” which is radically different from the Cartesian maxim: “I think, therefore I am.” In addition, the book offers the first detailed portrait of the roots and evolution of the philosophy of engineering in China. The book begins by discussing the triptych thesis of science, technology and engineering, which argues that there are a number of important distinctions between the three, e.g. scientific activities are chiefly based on discovery, while technological activities center on invention, and engineering activities focus on creation. Considering the latest developments in the philosophy of engineering, the author also analyzes engineering communities, engineering practice and a micro–meso–macro framework. In subsequent chapters, the author separately analyzes the three stages of engineering activities: planning, operating and using artifacts. In the closing chapter, two views on the philosophy of engineering (as a new subdiscipline of philosophy and as a philosophy in its own right) are briefly explained.Table of ContentsForeword.- Translator's Introduction.- Introduction.- The First Stage of Engineering Activity: Planning and Decision-making.- The Second Stage of Engineering Activity: Operating and Implementing.- The Third Stage of Engineering activity: Using Artifacts and Living a Life.- Philosophy of Engineering: An Emerging Branch of Philosophy.

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Book SynopsisJust as the six branches of a snow crystal converge in regular proportions toward their common center, the six contributions to this book point toward a future philosophy of cosmic life. In this sense, this edited volume represents a multidisciplinary and transcultural polylogue of distinguished authors from three continents, which aims to establish highly innovative perspectives and open new frontiers of developing philosophical reflections and scientific foundations for the emergence of a common cosmic consciousness, for an integral ecology, and for a cooperative planetary civilization of humanity. John B. Cobb, Jr. uses a process-philosophical foundation to describe life as living events expressing novelty and the cosmos as a process of self-enriching and self-evolving “Life Itself.” Chandra Wickramasinghe unfolds his scientific and philosophical perspective on cosmic life in twelve successive steps, offering a wide range of arguments and insights that support an up-to-date theory of panspermia. Attila Grandpierre presents the "Cosmic Life Principle" and the comprehensive science based upon it that is inextricably linked to the healthy and cooperative civilization, to the biological laws of nature, to the laws of logic, to the uplifting of the well-being of people and ecological communities. Chunyou Yan introduces the approach of his holographic philosophy, according to which the universe must be understood as a vast living entity, every aspect of which represents life. Bei Peng shows that the proportions of energy meridians in traditional Chinese medicine correspond to musical intervals, and on this basis she demonstrates the analogy of the human body to macrocosmic phenomena. David Bartosch offers an examination of three important systematic foundations for a poly-contextural, transcultural philosophy of cosmic life with roots in Greek, Chinese, South and West Asian, and European traditions of thought. Table of Contents1. Introduction2. Cosmic Life 3. Admitting Our Inalienable Links with the Cosmos 4. The Cosmic Life Instinct Points the Way to a Healthy Ecological Civilization 5. Holographic Philosophy as a Philosophical Basis of Cosmic Life Theory 6. The Human Body as the Singing Universe 7. Poly-contextural Cornerstones for a Transcultural Philosophy of Cosmic Life

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Book SynopsisThe great biologist Louis Pasteur suppressed ''awkward'' data because it didn''t support the case he was making. John Snow, the ''first epidemiologist'' was doing nothing others had not done before. Gregor Mendel, the supposed ''founder of genetics'' never grasped the fundamental principles of ''Mendelian'' genetics. Joseph Lister''s famously clean hospital wards were actually notorious dirty. And Einstein''s general relativity was only ''confirmed'' in 1919 because an eminent British scientist cooked his figures. These are just some of the revelations explored in this book. Drawing on current history of science scholarship, Fabulous Science shows that many of our greatest heroes of science were less than honest about their experimental data and not above using friends in high places to help get their ideas accepted. It also reveals that the alleged revolutionaries of the history of science were often nothing of the sort. Prodigiously able they may have been, but the epithet of the ''mTrade ReviewReview from previous edition Waller writes with clarity and flair . . . [he] has a real talent for telling a story. * Roy Porter *Everyone with an interest in science should read this book. * Focus *a great read * Nature *Waller tells these stories well ... [his] examples are a valuable look sideways at the rolling juggernaut of modern science. * Martin Ince, New Scientist *Table of ContentsPART 1: RIGHT FOR THE WRONG REASONS ; PART 2: TELLING SCIENCE AS IT WAS

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Book SynopsisModern physics has revealed the universe as a much stranger place than we could have imagined. The puzzle at the centre of our knowledge of the universe is time. Michael Lockwood takes the reader on a fascinating journey into the nature of things. He investigates philosophical questions about past, present, and future, our experience of time, and the possibility of time travel. And he provides the most careful, lively, and up-to-date introduction to the physics of time and the structure of the universe. He guides us step by step through relativity theory and quantum physics, introducing and explaining the ground-breaking ideas of Newton and Boltzmann, Einstein and Schroedinger, Penrose and Hawking. We zoom in on the behaviour of molecules and atoms, and pull back to survey the expansion of the universe. We learn about entropy and gravity, black holes and wormholes, about how it all began and where we are all headed. Lockwood''s aim is not just to boggle the mind but to lead us towards Trade ReviewReview from previous edition Michael Lockwood's book The Labyrinth of Time: Introducing the Universe has just appeared. I highly recommend it. It's a wonderful overview of the physics and philosophy of time, crafted extremely carefully and engagingly (yet without compromising any content) for the lay reader, superbly produced and illustrated. Oh, and it's true. * Professor David Deutsch, author of The Fabric of Reality *Michael Lockwood's book...is a model of balance and clarity....Lockwood's style is clear and straightforward * Paul Davies, Times Higher Education Supplement *Table of Contents1. Two Concepts of Time ; 2. Time and Space: a Marriage is Arranged ; 3. Taking Space-Time Seriously ; 4. From Flat to Curved Space-Time ; 5. Weaving the Cosmic Tapestry ; 6. Closed Timelike Curves: Science Fact or Science Fiction? ; 7. Classical Time Travel: the Toils of Paradox ; 8. Hamilton's Legacy: Physical Systems and their State Spaces ; 9. Time Asymmetry and the Second Law ; 10. Entropy, Electrodynamics and the Role of Gravity ; 11. 'Drawn Through Life Backwards' ; 12. The Unyielding Past ; 13. The Emergence of Order ; 14. From Quantum Leaps to Schrodinger's Cat ; 15. Schrodinger's Time Traveller ; 16. Space, Time, and Quantum Gravity: Physics at the Frontier ; 17. The Time of Our Lives ; 18. Epilogue

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