Mechanistic images in geometric form : Heinrich Hertz's Principles of mechanics /
This book presents an analysis of Heinrich Hertz's posthumously published 'Principles of Mechanics' in its philosophical, physical and mathematical context. It is the first book to comprehensively examine Hertz's important ideas on mechanics and the author draws on the original m...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Language Notes: | English. |
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New York :
Oxford University Press,
2005.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
Table of Contents:
- 1 Introduction; 1.1 Aim and structure of the book; 1.2 General outline of Hertz's Mechanics; 1.3 What is new in this book?; 1.4 The publication of Hertz's book and the preserved drafts; 1.5 Notation, quotes, references, etc; 2 The principles of mechanics before Hertz; 2.1 Principles and laws; 2.2 Foundations of mechanics; 2.3 Basic notions; 2.4 Novel expositions and critical works; 3 Mechanization of physics; 3.1 The decline of the mechanistic world view; 4 Problematization of the concept of force; 4.1 Forces and atoms; 4.2 The problematization of distance forces. Field theory
- 4.3 Rejections of atomism4.4 Energetics; 5 A biographical survey; 5.1 Childhood and student years (1857-1883); 5.2 Privat Dozent in Kiel (1883-1885); 5.3 Professor in Karlsruhe (1885-1889); 5.4 Professor in Bonn (1889-1894); 6 Hertz's road to mechanics; 6.1 Hertz's electromagnetic work as a background for his mechanics; 6.1.1 Axiomatization; 6.1.2 Mechanization; 6.1.3 The elimination of distance forces; 6.2 Research on gravitation; 6.3 Ether; 6.4 An energetic beginning; 6.5 Chronology of the drafts; 7 Images of nature; 7.1 A comparison of Hertz's and Helmholtz's signs and images
- 7.2 Correctness7.3 Logical permissiblity; 7.4 Appropriateness; 7.4.1 Distinctness; 7.4.2 Simplicity; 7.5 The relation among the criteria; 8 Hertz's earlier ideas about images; 8.1 Images in the Kiel Lectures; 8.2 The parable of the paper money; 8.3 The colorless theory and the gay garment; 8.4 Comparison of the 1894 images with earlier concepts; 8.5 Concepts in the Mechanics related to images; 9 Images of mechanics; 9.1 Principles of mechanics; 9.2 The Newtonian-Laplacian image; 9.3 The energetic image; 9.4 Hertz's image; 9.5 Conclusion of the comparison
- 10 Kantianism. A-priori and empirical elements of images10.1 Scientific representations; 10.2 A Kantian division; 10.3 A metaphysics of corporeal nature; 10.4 Kantianism in the first draft of Hertz's Mechanics. Existence problems; 10.5 The division between kinematics and dynamics; 11 Time, space and mass; 11.1 Space; 11.1.1 Pure geometry; 11.1.2 Applied geometry; 11.2 Time; 11.3 Mass. The constitution of matter; 11.3.1 The constitution of matter. Book one; 11.3.2 The constitution of matter. Book two; 12 The line element: The origin of the Massenteilchen; 12.1 Hertz's line element
- 12.2 Vanishing identical material points rejected12.3 Massenteilchen appear; 12.4 A matter of space; 12.5 The Massenteilchen shrink and become matter free; 12.6 Conclusion; 13 Hertz's geometry of systems of points; 13.1 Geometrization of mechanics; 13.2 Why the geometric form?; 13.3 Direction, angle, and curvature in the printed book; 13.4 Direction, angle, and curvature in Hertz's manuscripts; 14 Vector quantities and their components; 14.1 Introduction; 14.2 Components and reduced components of a displacement; 14.3 Vector quantities; 14.4 Kinematic concepts