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How scientists through the ages have conducted thought experiments
using imaginary entities-demons-to test the laws of nature and push
the frontiers of what is possible Science may be known for
banishing the demons of superstition from the modern world. Yet
just as the demon-haunted world was being exorcized by the
enlightening power of reason, a new kind of demon mischievously
materialized in the scientific imagination itself. Scientists began
to employ hypothetical beings to perform certain roles in thought
experiments-experiments that can only be done in the
imagination-and these impish assistants helped scientists achieve
major breakthroughs that pushed forward the frontiers of science
and technology. Spanning four centuries of discovery-from Rene
Descartes, whose demon could hijack sensorial reality, to James
Clerk Maxwell, whose molecular-sized demon deftly broke the second
law of thermodynamics, to Darwin, Einstein, Feynman, and
beyond-Jimena Canales tells a shadow history of science and the
demons that bedevil it. She reveals how the greatest scientific
thinkers used demons to explore problems, test the limits of what
is possible, and better understand nature. Their imaginary
familiars helped unlock the secrets of entropy, heredity,
relativity, quantum mechanics, and other scientific wonders-and
continue to inspire breakthroughs in the realms of computer
science, artificial intelligence, and economics today. The world
may no longer be haunted as it once was, but the demons of the
scientific imagination are alive and well, continuing to play a
vital role in scientists' efforts to explore the unknown and make
the impossible real.
On April 6, 1922, in Paris, Albert Einstein and Henri Bergson
publicly debated the nature of time. Einstein considered Bergson's
theory of time to be a soft, psychological notion, irreconcilable
with the quantitative realities of physics. Bergson, who gained
fame as a philosopher by arguing that time should not be understood
exclusively through the lens of science, criticized Einstein's
theory of time for being a metaphysics grafted on to science, one
that ignored the intuitive aspects of time. The Physicist and the
Philosopher tells the remarkable story of how this explosive debate
transformed our understanding of time and drove a rift between
science and the humanities that persists today. Jimena Canales
introduces readers to the revolutionary ideas of Einstein and
Bergson, describes how they dramatically collided in Paris, and
traces how this clash of worldviews reverberated across the
twentieth century. She shows how it provoked responses from figures
such as Bertrand Russell and Martin Heidegger, and carried
repercussions for American pragmatism, logical positivism,
phenomenology, and quantum mechanics. Canales explains how the new
technologies of the period--such as wristwatches, radio, and
film--helped to shape people's conceptions of time and further
polarized the public debate. She also discusses how Bergson and
Einstein, toward the end of their lives, each reflected on his
rival's legacy--Bergson during the Nazi occupation of Paris and
Einstein in the context of the first hydrogen bomb explosion. The
Physicist and the Philosopher is a magisterial and revealing
account that shows how scientific truth was placed on trial in a
divided century marked by a new sense of time.
How scientists through the ages have conducted thought experiments
using imaginary entities-demons-to test the laws of nature and push
the frontiers of what is possible Science may be known for
banishing the demons of superstition from the modern world. Yet
just as the demon-haunted world was being exorcized by the
enlightening power of reason, a new kind of demon mischievously
materialized in the scientific imagination itself. Scientists began
to employ hypothetical beings to perform certain roles in thought
experiments-experiments that can only be done in the
imagination-and these impish assistants helped scientists achieve
major breakthroughs that pushed forward the frontiers of science
and technology. Spanning four centuries of discovery-from Rene
Descartes, whose demon could hijack sensorial reality, to James
Clerk Maxwell, whose molecular-sized demon deftly broke the second
law of thermodynamics, to Darwin, Einstein, Feynman, and
beyond-Jimena Canales tells a shadow history of science and the
demons that bedevil it. She reveals how the greatest scientific
thinkers used demons to explore problems, test the limits of what
is possible, and better understand nature. Their imaginary
familiars helped unlock the secrets of entropy, heredity,
relativity, quantum mechanics, and other scientific wonders-and
continue to inspire breakthroughs in the realms of computer
science, artificial intelligence, and economics today. The world
may no longer be haunted as it once was, but the demons of the
scientific imagination are alive and well, continuing to play a
vital role in scientists' efforts to explore the unknown and make
the impossible real.
The founding of the university in 1867 created a unique community
in what had been a prairie. Within a few years, this creative mix
of teachers and scholars produced innovations in agriculture,
engineering and the arts that challenged old ideas and stimulated
dynamic new industries. Projects ranging from the Mosaic web
browser to the discovery of Archaea and pioneering triumphs in
women's education and wheelchair accessibility have helped shape
the university's mission into a double helix of innovation and
real-world change. These essays explore the university's celebrated
accomplishments and historic legacy, candidly assessing both its
successes and its setbacks. Experts and students tell the
eye-opening stories of campus legends and overlooked game-changers,
of astonishing technical and social invention, of incubators of
progress as diverse as the Beckman Institute and Ebertfest.
Contributors: James R. Barrett, George O. Batzli, Claire Benjamin,
Jeffrey D. Brawn, Jimena Canales, Stephanie A. Dick, Poshek Fu,
Marcelo H. Garcia, Lillian Hoddeson, Harry Liebersohn, Claudia
Lutz, Kathleen Mapes, Vicki McKinney, Elisa Miller, Robert Michael
Morrissey, Bryan E. Norwood, Elizabeth H. Pleck, Leslie J. Reagan,
Susan M. Rigdon, David Rosenboom, Katherine Skwarczek, Winton U.
Solberg, Carol Spindel, William F. Tracy, and Joy Ann
Williamson-Lott.
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