Notice bibliographique
- Notice
Type(s) de contenu et mode(s) de consultation : Texte noté : électronique
Auteur(s) : Smith, George Edwin (1938-....)
Seth, Raghav
Titre(s) : Brownian motion and molecular reality [Texte imprimé] : a study in theory-mediated measurement / George E. Smith and Raghav Seth
Publication : New York : Oxford university press, copyright 2020
Description matérielle : 1 vol. (XV-450 p.) : ill. ; 25 cm
Collection : Oxford studies in philosophy of science
Lien à la collection : Oxford studies in philosophy of science
Note(s) : Notes bibliogr. Index
"Legend has it that Jean Perrin's experiments on Brownian motion between 1905 and
1913 "put a definite end to the long struggle regarding the real existence of molecules."
Close examination of these experiments, however, shows how little access they gained
to the molecular realm. They did succeed in determining mean kinetic energies of particles
in Brownian motion, but the values for molecular magnitudes Perrin inferred from them
simply presupposed that those energies match the mean kinetic energies of molecules
in the surrounding fluid. This presupposition became increasingly suspect between
1908 and 1913 as distinctly different values for these magnitudes were obtained from
alpha-particle emissions (by Rutherford et al), from ionization (by Millikan), and
from Planck's blackbody radiation equation. This monograph explains how Perrin's measurements
of the kinetic energies in Brownian motion were nevertheless exemplars of theory-mediated
measurement - the practice of inferring values for inaccessible quantities from values
of accessible proxies via theoretical relationships between them. Moreover, though
Planck in 1900 had proposed turning to complementary theory-mediated measurements
of inter-linked molecular magnitudes as a source of evidence, it was Perrin more than
anyone else who championed this approach. The concerted efforts of Rutherford, Millikan,
Planck, Perrin and their colleagues during the years in question led to evidence of
this form becoming central to microphysics. The analysis here of how this came about
replaces an untenable legend with an account that is not only tenable, but far more
instructive about what the evidence did and did not show"
Sujet(s) : Perrin, Jean (1870-1942)
Mouvement brownien -- Histoire
Théorie moléculaire -- Histoire
Indice(s) Dewey :
530.475 09 (23e éd.) = Diffusion et transfert de masse - Histoire
Identifiants, prix et caractéristiques : ISBN 9780190098032. - ISBN 0190098031. - ISBN 9780190098049. - ISBN 019009804X. -
ISBN 9780190098025. - ISBN 0190098023
Identifiant de la notice : ark:/12148/cb46892973q
Notice n° :
FRBNF46892973
(notice reprise d'un réservoir extérieur)
