Article ID: CBB554615043

The double nature of Maxwell's physical analogies (2021)

unapi

Building upon work by Mary Hesse (1974), this paper aims to show that a single method of investigation lies behind Maxwell's use of physical analogies in his major scientific works before the Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. Key to understanding the operation of this method is to recognize that Maxwell's physical analogies are intended to possess an ‘inductive’ function in addition to an ‘illustrative’ one. That is to say, they not only serve to clarify the equations proposed for an unfamiliar domain with a working interpretation drawn from a more familiar science, but can also be sources of defeasible yet relatively strong arguments from features of the more familiar domain to features of the less. Compared with the reconstructions by Achinstein (1991), Siegel (1991), Harman (1998) and others, which postulate a discontinuity in Maxwell's approach to physical analogy, the account defended in this paper i) makes sense of the continuity in Maxwell's remarks on scientific methodology, ii) explains his quest for a “mathematical classification of physical quantities” and iii) offers a new and more plausible interpretation of the debated episode of the introduction of the displacement current in Maxwell's “On Physical Lines of Forces”.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB554615043/

Similar Citations

Article Silva, Cibelle Celestino; (2007)
The Role of Models and Analogies in the Electromagnetic Theory: A Historical Case Study (/isis/citation/CBB001032896/)

Article Giora Hon; Bernard R. Goldstein; (2021)
Maxwell's role in turning the concept of model into the methodology of modeling (/isis/citation/CBB799144703/)

Article Cat, Jordi; (2001)
On Understanding: Maxwell on the Methods of Illustration and Scientific Metaphor (/isis/citation/CBB000100733/)

Thesis Lambert, Kevin Thomas; (2005)
Mind over Matter: Language, Mathematics, and Electromagnetism in NineteenthCentury Britain (/isis/citation/CBB001561644/)

Article Giora Hon; Bernard R. Goldstein; (2022)
The Key to Maxwell's Theory of Electrodynamics (1873): A Productive Methodology (/isis/citation/CBB271357771/)

Article Vera Hartenstein; Mario Hubert; (2021)
When Fields Are Not Degrees of Freedom (/isis/citation/CBB322806876/)

Article Hona, Giora; Goldstein, Bernard R.; (2012)
Maxwell's Contrived Analogy: An Early Version of the Methodology of Modeling (/isis/citation/CBB001211045/)

Article Chalmers, Alan; (2001)
Maxwell, Mechanism, and the Nature of Electricity (/isis/citation/CBB000102533/)

Chapter Martins, Roberto de Andrade; (2005)
Mechanics and Electromagnetism in the Late Nineteenth Century: The Dynamics of Maxwell's Ether (/isis/citation/CBB000651173/)

Article John Lekner; (2017)
Nurturing Genius: the Childhood and Youth of Kelvin and Maxwell (/isis/citation/CBB613473636/)

Chapter Donatella Marmottini; Raffaele Pisano; (2017)
Nature-of-Science Teaching: notes on the Lagrangian Methods in Maxwell’s Electromagnetic Theory (/isis/citation/CBB808838171/)

Article Stanley, Matthew; (2012)
By Design: James Clerk Maxwell and the Evangelical Unification of Science (/isis/citation/CBB001231540/)

Article Brenni, Paolo; (2004)
Mechanical and Hydraulic Models for Illustrating Electromagnetic Phenomena (/isis/citation/CBB000770307/)

Book Forbes, Nancy; Mahon, Basil; (2014)
Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field: How Two Men Revolutionized Physics (/isis/citation/CBB001551506/)

Authors & Contributors
Goldstein, Bernard R.
Hon, Giora
Pelosi, Giuseppe
Stefano Selleri
Hubert, Mario
John Lekner
Concepts
Electromagnetism
Physics
Models and modeling in science
Methodology of science; scientific method
Electricity; magnetism
Science education and teaching
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
20th century, early
Places
Great Britain
England
Scotland
Europe
Tuscany (Italy)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment