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Under The Microscope

PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTS IN PHYSICS -- THE HISTORICAL RELATION BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENTIFIC THEORIES, by James T. Cushing; Cambridge University Press, 1998; 424 PP; $ 67.15

Reviewed by Andy Reisinger

Does physics unravel absolute truths about the world, or are scientific theories and their interpretation dependent on the philosophical and social climate in which they are made? How rationally do physicists behave when developing new hypotheses? James Cushing takes a long hard look at the path that physics has beaten through the ages, and its interrelatedness with philosophical ideas.

Originated from an interdisciplinary course taught at Notre Dame University, where Cushing is Professor for Foundational Problems in Quantum Mechanics, this book has a strong emphasis on the history of science in order to lay the foundations for discussing its relationship with philosophy. It provides a solid discussion of key developments in physics, from the Aristotelian concept of nature, the Copernican revolution and Newton's theory of gravitation, through the development of the electromagnetic theory, to the milestones of twentieth century physics, relativity and quantum mechanics.

Along the way, Cushing carefully points out how scientists were influenced by preconceived ideas about nature in the formulation of their theories, and common philosophical themes which can be found in the development of science. Some familiarity with classical physics is assumed and certainly helpful to understand the issues, while philosophical concepts and terminology are introduced from a very basic level.

I would have liked to see a lot more philosophy put into the book, however. Cushing spends much time examining the way individual discoveries connect with each other, but leaves little space for more fundamental (and, I believe, more exciting) questions such as the rationality of theory change, and the validity of alternative interpretations of experimental data. These issues are discussed mainly in the first and last chapter, where they show little connection with the historical description of events given in between. The only exception is an analysis of the fate of David Bohm's deterministic interpretation of quantum mechanics, which is Cushing's personal area of expertise.

The book is a very thoughtful and detailed introduction to the history of physics. I feel that it stops short of providing significant insight into the philosophy of science, but it certainly lays a solid foundation for it. Probably all one should ask for from a single volume.

Andy Reisinger is with NIWA in Wellington