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Article ID: CBB001230063

Saving Mach's View on Atoms (2010)

Journal for General Philosophy of Science
Volume: 41
Pages: 1--19

Publication Date: 2010
Edition Details: Part of a special issue: “Darwinism, Philosophy, and Experimental Biology”
Language: English

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Experiments and experimentation Philosophy of science Physics Atoms 19th century 20th century, early Germany Mach, Ernst Boltzmann, Ludwig

According to a common belief concerning the Mach-Boltzmann debate on atoms, the new experiments performed in microphysics at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries confirmed Boltzmann's atomic hypothesis and disproved Mach's anti-atomic view. This paper intends to show that this belief is partially unjustified. Mach's view on atoms consists in fact of different kinds of arguments. While the new experiments in microphysics refute indeed his scientific arguments against the atomic hypothesis, his epistemological arguments are unaffected. In this regard, Mach's epistemological approach remains relevant for today's discussion on the status of the notion of atom.

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Description Explores the philosophical relevance of early 20th-century experiments on Mach's view of atoms. Series also includes:

Includes Series Articles

Article Charpa, Ulrich (2010) Darwin, Schleiden, Whewell, and the “London Doctors”: Evolutionism and Microscopical Research in the Nineteenth Century. Journal for General Philosophy of Science (p. 61). unapi

Article Deichmann, Ute (2010) Gemmules and Elements: On Darwin's and Mendel's Concepts and Methods in Heredity. Journal for General Philosophy of Science (p. 85). unapi

Article Travis, Anthony S. (2010) Raphael Meldola and the Nineteenth-Century Neo-Darwinians. Journal for General Philosophy of Science (p. 143). unapi

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001230063/

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