Rise of Modern Science

Outline #7

The new "Newtonian" physical science

Philosophical influences on the direction of research
- Newtonian style of mathematical physics
- empiricism: emphasis on experimentation and measurement
- German Naturphilosophie:
  - "all is force", more important than matter
  - unity of force underlying different phenomena
  - physical action through polarities and tensions
- positivism: caution with mechanical models and hypotheses
Replacement of subtle matter theory
- experimental contradictions:
  - Count Rumford's experiments with cannon boring (1798)
  - Herschel on heating-rays in solar spectrum (1800)
  - Young's interference-pattern evidence for wave theory of light (1801)
- mathematical treatments of heat:
  - action without particles
  - mathematics for heat flow as distribution (1820s)
  - Fourier, Carnot, and Thomson modeling heat and work (1820s-40s)
- successful equations for other subtle phenomena, such as electricity (1820s)
- synthesis of mechanical action and heat:
  - Joule's experiments on mechanical equivalent of heat (1847)
  - Helmholtz, Thomson (Lord Kelvin), and Clausius on "energy", conservation, thermodynamics (1840s-)
  - Maxwell's kinetic model of gas particle action (1859)
The search for unification
- mathematical treatments of force, distribution, transformation
- interconversions: chemical, electrical, magnetic, mechanical, thermal, optical
- conservation of force: transformation and convertibility
- new theoretical unity with energetics and "conservation of energy"

Satisfactions of the Newtonian ideal for laws of matter

Chemistry as an atomistic, mechanistic science
- unity of theory and observation with elemental atoms
- laboratory successes with analysis and synthesis (1820s- )
- geometrical-structure theories of compounds (1840s- )
- support for atoms from physics: gas kinetics (1860)
Expanding breadth and depth of "classical" physics
- extension of mathematical models, through reductionism and analogies
- extension of empiricism, through precision and experimental control
- the success of mathematical physics in connecting and predicting phenomena
  - Faraday's field lines as a model for force (1831)
  - Maxwell's fluid analogs for field lines: workable models (1855-65)
  - Thermodynamics and an applied science of work (1850s-60s)
  - Maxwell's synthetic method of statistical dynamics (1860)
  - Maxwell's electromagnetic theory for light (1873)
  - wide empirical success and mathematical unity
  - practical applications of equations to phenomena and technology
The model for modern science
- the intellectual appeal of mechanism, reductionism, and unification
- the values of precision, work, efficiency, and control
- professional societies, academies, and university faculties
- promotion of the moral and practical value of science for society
- satisfaction and optimism for the future of scientific knowledge
the growth of electrical applications and industry
the values of precision, work, efficiency, and control