From Data to Quanta: Niels Bohr’s Vision of Physics

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University of Chicago Press, 2021 - 240 síður
"Niels Bohr was a central figure in quantum physics, well-known for his work on atomic structure and his contributions to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. In this book, philosopher Slobodan Peroviâc explores the way Bohr practiced and understood physics, and the implications of this for our understanding of modern science, especially contemporary quantum experimental physics. Peroviâc's method of studying Bohr is philosophical-historical, and his aim is to make sense of both Bohr's understanding of physics and his method of inquiry. He argues that in several important respects, Bohr's vision of physics was driven by his desire to develop a comprehensive perspective on key features of experimental observation as well as emerging experimental work. Peroviâc uncovers how Bohr's distinctive breakthrough contributions are characterized by a multi-layered, phased approach of building on basic experimental insights inductively to develop intermediary and overarching hypotheses. The strengths and limitations of this approach, in contrast to the mathematically or metaphysically driven approaches of other physicists at the time, made him a thoroughly distinctive kind of theorist and scientific leader. Once we see that Bohr played the typical role of a laboratory mediator, and excelled in the inductive process this required, we can fully understand the way his work was generated, the role it played in developing novel quantum concepts, and its true limitations, as well as current adherence to and use of Bohr's complementarity approach among contemporary experimentalists"--
 

Efni

1 Introduction
1
Preliminaries
23
Bohrs Vision in Practice The Old Quantum Theory
57
Toward Quantum Mechanics
111
Aftermath
177
Acknowledgments
205
Notes
207
Bibliography
221
Index
239
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Um höfundinn (2021)

Slobodan Perović is professor of the history and philosophy of science at the University of Belgrade. His work has been featured in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, Foundations of Science, and Synthese, among others.

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