Description
Book SynopsisThis is an open access book. This book, the first edited collection of its kind, explores the recent emergence of philosophical research in astrophysics. It assembles a variety of original essays from scholars who are currently shaping this field, and it combines insightful overviews of the current state of play with novel, significant contributions. It therefore provides an ideal source for understanding the current debates in philosophy of astrophysics, and it offers new ideas for future cutting-edge research. The selection of essays offered in this book addresses methodological and metaphysical questions that target a wide range of topics, including dark matter, black holes, astrophysical observations and modelling.
The book serves as the first standard resource in philosophy of astrophysics for all scholars who work in the field and want to expand or deepen their knowledge, but it also provides an accessible guide for all those philosophers and scientists who are interested in getting a first, basic understanding of the main issues in philosophy of astrophysics.
Table of Contents1. IntroductionVera Matarese, Siska De Baerdemaeker, and Nora Mills Boyd
Part I: Theory, Observation, and the Relation Between Them2. Laboratory Astrophysics: Lessons for Epistemology of AstrophysicsNora Mills Boyd
3. A Crack in the Track of the Hubble ConstantMarie Gueguen
4. Theory Testing in Gravitational-Wave AstrophysicsJamee Elder
5. Hybrid Enrichment of Theory and Observation in Next-Generation Stellar Population SynthesisLydia Patton
6. Doing More with Less: Dark Matter & Modified GravityNiels C. M. Martens and Martin King
Part II: Models and Simulations7. Stellar Structure Models Revisited: Evidence and Data in AsteroseismologyMauricio Suárez
8. Idealizations in Astrophysical Computer SimulationsMelissa Jacquart and Regy-Null R. Arcadia
9. Simulation Verification in PracticeKevin Kadowaki
10. (What) Do We Learn from Code Comparisons? A Case Study of Self-Interacting Dark Matter ImplementationsHelen Meskhidze
11. Simulation and Experiment Revisited: Temporal Data in Astronomy and AstrophysicsShannon Sylvie Abelson
12. What’s In a Survey? Simulation-Induced Selection Effects in AstronomySarah C. Gallagher and Christopher Smeenk
Part III: Black Holes13. On the Epistemology of Observational Black Hole AstrophysicsJuliusz Doboszewski and Dennis Lehmkuhl
14. Black Holes and AnalogyAlex Mathie
15. Extragalactic Reality Revisited: Astrophysics and Entity RealismSimon Allzén
Part IV: Concluding Thoughts16. Reflections by a Theoretical AstrophysicistKevin Heng
17. Annotated BibliographyCameron C. Yetman
