Research Catalog

Laws of nature / P. Mittelstaedt, P.A. Weingartner.

Title
Laws of nature / P. Mittelstaedt, P.A. Weingartner.
Author
Mittelstaedt, Peter.
Publication
Berlin ; New York, NY : Springer, c2005.

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Additional Authors
Weingartner, Paul
Description
xii, 376 p. : ill.; 24 cm.
Summary
The book is concerned with the laws of nature and in particular with the laws of physics. The authors discuss three important questions: First, whether the observed regularities are based on strict "laws of nature" that hold rigorously and without any exception. Second, what we call a "law of nature" is studied by comparing this concept with invariance principles, causality principles, teleological principles and means of predicting future events. Finally, on the basis of these investigations the authors treat the ambitious and intricate third question, why the laws of nature hold. Are there rational reasons for this largely unexplained phenomenon? This book addresses students as well as researchers. It will be an excellent reference for those interested in the philosophical foundations of the natural sciences.
Subject
  • Law > Philosophy
  • Logic, Symbolic and mathematical
  • Mathematics
  • Natural law
  • Philosophy
  • Quantum theory
  • Science > Philosophy
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (p. [347]-367) and index.
Processing Action (note)
  • committed to retain
Contents
What is a Law of Nature? -- Are there Laws of Nature at All? -- Can the Laws of Nature be Genuine Laws? -- Are the Laws of Logic Laws of Nature? -- Are the Laws of Mathematics Laws of Nature? -- Properties of Laws -- Does Every Law of Nature Express an Invariance (Symmetry)? -- Is Every Law of Nature Spacetime Invariant? -- Dynamical and Statistical Laws -- Laws, Boundary Conditions, and Constants of Nature -- Causality and Predictability -- Laws and Objects -- Completeness and Reliability -- Why are Laws of Nature Valid? -- Statistical Laws -- Quantum Logic.
ISBN
  • 9783540240792 (acid-free paper)
  • 3540240799 (acid-free paper)
LCCN
^^2005927735
Owning Institutions
Harvard Library