The Creation of Ideas in Physics

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Jarrett Leplin

   Pages 1-11

3. On the Methods of Science

   • Dudley Shapere

   Pages 13-27

4. Eliminative Induction as a Method of Discovery: How Einstein Discovered General Relativity

   • John D. Norton

   Pages 29-69

5. “The Manifold of Possibilities”: Comments on Norton

   • John Stachel

   Pages 71-88

6. Einstein’s Luckiest Thought

   • Roberto Torretti

   Pages 89-96

7. Einstein’s Methodology of Discovery was Newtonian Deduction from the Phenomena

   • Jon Dorling

   Pages 97-111

8. Newton's New Way of Inquiry

   • William Harper, George E. Smith

   Pages 113-166

9. A Specimen of Theory Construction from Quantum Gravity

   • Rafael D. Sorkin

   Pages 167-179

10. The Hartle-Hawking Proposal for the Quantum State of the Universe

    • Don N. Page

    Pages 181-187

11. On the Introduction of New Ideas in Science

    • Dudley Shapere

    Pages 189-222

12. Prior Information and the Development of New Ideas: The Copenhagen Family of Theories

    • Alberto Cordero

    Pages 223-243

13. Back Matter

    Pages 245-255

    PDF

The unusual ambition of this volume is to engage scientists, historians, and philosophers in a common quest to delineate the structure of the creative thinking responsible for major advances in physical theory. The topic does not fit anyone discipline's proprietary interests, and can only be pursued cooperatively. This volume was conceived in the hope that the importance of learning something general about how theories are developed and what makes the difference between productive and abortive directions of theo­ retical inquiry could overcome well-known barriers to such cooperation. The volume originated in a conference held at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro in 1988, as an installment of the annual Greensboro Symposium in Philosophy. Most of the papers descend from papers pre­ sented on that occasion. The authors are well known in their own disciplines, but should be identified to the wider audience for interdisciplinary work in science studies. Rafael Sorkin, of Syracuse University, and Don Page, of the University of Alberta, are theoretical physicists who have done research in quantum gravity and cosmology. John Stachel, a physicist at Boston University, is widely known as the Director of the Einstein Project and editor of Einstein's papers. William Harper, a historian of science and philosopher at the University of Western Ontario, is a Newton scholar and specialist in decision theory.

• Albert Einstein
• cosmology
• gravity
• physical theory
• physics
• quantum gravity
• relativity
• science
• scientific thought
• theory of relativity
• universe

• University of North Carolina, Greensboro, USA

  Jarrett Leplin

Policies and ethics