Hardback : £108.00
What is temperature, and how can we measure it correctly? These may seem like simple questions, but the most renowned scientists struggled with them throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. In Inventing Temperature, Chang examines how scientists first created thermometers; how they measured temperature beyond the reach of standard thermometers; and how they managed to assess the reliability and accuracy of these instruments without a circular reliance on the
instruments themselves.In a discussion that brings together the history of science with the philosophy of science, Chang presents the simple eet challenging epistemic and technical
questions about these instruments, and the complex web of abstract philosophical issues surrounding them. Chang's book shows that many items of knowledge that we take for granted now are in fact spectacular achievements, obtained only after a great deal of innovative thinking, painstaking experiments, bold conjectures, and controversy. Lurking behind these achievements are some very important philosophical questions about how and when people accept the authority of science.
What is temperature, and how can we measure it correctly? These may seem like simple questions, but the most renowned scientists struggled with them throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. In Inventing Temperature, Chang examines how scientists first created thermometers; how they measured temperature beyond the reach of standard thermometers; and how they managed to assess the reliability and accuracy of these instruments without a circular reliance on the
instruments themselves.In a discussion that brings together the history of science with the philosophy of science, Chang presents the simple eet challenging epistemic and technical
questions about these instruments, and the complex web of abstract philosophical issues surrounding them. Chang's book shows that many items of knowledge that we take for granted now are in fact spectacular achievements, obtained only after a great deal of innovative thinking, painstaking experiments, bold conjectures, and controversy. Lurking behind these achievements are some very important philosophical questions about how and when people accept the authority of science.
Chronology:
1: Keeping the Fixed Points Fixed
2: Spirit, Air, and Quicksilver
3: To Go Beyond
4: Theory, Measurement, and Absolute Temperature
5: Measurement, Justification, and Scientific Progress
Hasok Chang is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy of Science at University College London.
"A fascinating study."--David Knight, British Journal for the
History of Science
"An interesting, excellent book.... Highly recommended."
--CHOICE
"Chang is well and deeply read in the philosophy of science and,
with his conservative (sensu stricto) bent, is reluctant to discard
any promising lines of attack, even if these are not in agreement
with one another. Thus the book is thoroughly eclectic, as if
designed to consider the invention of temperature serially and in
ensemble from every worthwhile perspective. As the author has a
generous cast of mind, this means a great number of perspectives.
It is in
this eclectic generosity of approach, not its spread across history
and philosophy and science proper, that Inventing Temperature
defies categorization."--Mott Greene,sis
"A splendid book of lively historical narratives about
experimentalists' work from the 17th to the mid-19th century in
solving puzzles about making reliable thermometers..."--Mary Jo
Nye, Oregon State University
"Inventing Temperature is a terrific book at the intersection of
history, philosophy, and science."--Peter Galison, Harvard
University
"...a wonderful synthesis of the history and philosophy of physics.
It combines rich historical detail with philosophical acuity and
imagination."--Jeremy Butterfield, Oxford University
"Chang's book treats a well-defined and deeply interesting topic
with historical thoroughness and philosophical acuity."--R.I.G.
Hughes, University of South Carolina
"An interesting, and at times fascinating, history of the
development of the concept of temperature and the construction of
thermometers... Even those who don't have an extensive background
in physics will find the book valuable."--Allen Franklin, Physics,
University of Colorado
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