Handbook of the philosophy of science. [2] Philosophy of physics / Pt. A

Product Description


The ambition of this volume is twofold: to provide a comprehensive overview of the field and to serve as an indispensable reference work for anyone who wants to work in it. For example, any philosopher who hopes to make a contribution to the topic of the classical-quantum correspondence will have to begin by consulting Klaas Landsman’s chapter.
The organization of this volume, as well as the choice of topics, is based on the conviction that the important problems in the philosophy of physics arise from studying the foundations of the fundamental theories of physics. It follows that there is no sharp line to be drawn between philosophy of physics and physics itself. Some of the best work in the philosophy of physics is being done by physicists, as witnessed by the fact that several of the contributors to the volume are theoretical physicists: viz., Ellis, Emch, Harvey, Landsman, Rovelli, ‘t Hooft, the last of whom is a Nobel laureate.
Key features - Definitive discussions of the philosophical implications of modern physics - Masterly expositions of the fundamental theories of modern physics - Covers all three main pillars of modern physics: relativity theory, quantum theory, and thermal physics - Covers the new sciences grown from these theories: for example, cosmology from relativity theory; and quantum information and quantum computing, from quantum theory - Contains special Chapters that address crucial topics that arise in several different theories, such as symmetry and determinism - Written by very distinguished theoretical physicists, including a Nobel Laureate, as well as by philosophers



From the Back Cover


This volume provides a comprehensive overview of the philosophy of physics, and is an indispensable reference work for all researchers in the field. The organization of the volume, as well as the choice of topics, is motivated by the conviction that the interesting and important problems in the philosophy of physics concern the foundations of our fundamental physical theories. Thus, the three main pillars of modern physics---thermal physics, relativity theory and quantum theory---are all treated in detail. This conviction also implies that there is no sharp line between philosophy of physics and physics itself; and accordingly, several of the contributors to this volume are theoretical physicists.

List of contributors: Gordon Belot; Katherine Brading; Jeremy Butterfield; Jeffrey Bub; Elena Castellani; Michael Dickson; John Earman; George Ellis; Gerard Emch; Hans Halvorson; Klaas Landsman; David Malament; Michael MƒØger; Carlo Rovelli; Gerard ¡¦t Hooft; Jos Uffink.


About the Author


Dov M. Gabbay is Augustus De Morgan Professor Emeritus of Logic at the Group of Logic, Language and Computation, Department of Computer Science, King's College London. He has authored over four hundred and fifty research papers and over thirty research monographs. He is editor of several international Journals, and many reference works and Handbooks of Logic.