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History and Philosophy of Physics papers — page 95

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Sicily and the development of Econophysics: the pioneering work of Ettore Majorana and the Econophysics Workshop in Palermo
Sicily has played an important role in the development of the new research area named "Econophysics". In fact some key ideas supporting this new hybrid discipline were originally formulated…
Rosario N. MantegnaSep 1, 2014
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The Brandeis Dice Problem and Statistical Mechanics
Jaynes invented the Brandeis Dice Problem as a simple illustration of the MaxEnt (Maximum Entropy) procedure that he had demonstrated to work so well in Statistical Mechanics. I construct here two…
S. J. van EnkAug 28, 2014
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Recorded Accounts of Meteoritic Events in the Oral Traditions of Indigenous Australians
Descriptions of natural events, such as fireballs and meteorite impacts, are found within Indigenous Australian oral traditions. Studies of oral traditions demonstrate that they extend beyond the…
Duane W. HamacherAug 27, 2014
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Blondel et les oscillations auto-entretenues
In 1893, the "physicist-engineer" André Blondel invents the oscilloscope for displaying voltage and current variables. With this powerful means of investigation, he first studies the…
Jean-Marc Ginoux, René LoziAug 23, 2014
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The singing arc: the oldest memristor?
On April 30th 2008, the journal Nature announced that the missing circuit element, postulated thirty-seven years before by Professor Leon O. Chua has been found. Thus, after the capacitor, the…
Jean-Marc Ginoux, Bruno RossettoAug 21, 2014
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Poincare's forgotten conferences on wireless telegraphy
At the beginning of the twentieth century while Henri Poincaré (1854-1912) was already deeply involved in the developments of wireless telegraphy, he was invited, in 1908, to give a series of…
Jean-Marc Ginoux, Loic PetitgirardAug 21, 2014
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Van der Pol and the history of relaxation oscillations: toward the emergence of a concept
Relaxation oscillations are commonly associated with the name of Balthazar van der Pol via his eponymous paper (Philosophical Magazine, 1926) in which he apparently introduced this terminology to…
Jean-Marc Ginoux, Christophe LetellierAug 21, 2014
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Astrosociology: Interviews about an infinite universe
If the universe is infinite now it has always been infinite. This is the opinion of many astronomers today as can be concluded from the following series of interviews, but the opinions differ much…
Erik HøgAug 21, 2014
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Origins of Radio Astronomy at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the Role of J.L. Pawsey
I will discuss the interactions of a number of individuals that played major roles in the formation of radio astronomy in India in the period 1952-1962, particularly Dr. Joseph L. Pawsey. The story…
W. M. GossAug 16, 2014
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A transient event in AD 775 reported by al-Tabari: A bolide - not a nova, supernova, or kilonova
Given that the cause for the strong increase in 14C in AD 774/5 in Japanese and German trees is still a matter of debate (e.g. short Gamma-Ray Burst or solar super-flare), we have searched in Arabic…
Ralph Neuhaeuser, Paul KunitzschAug 13, 2014
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The Chinese comet observation in AD 773 January
The strong 14C increase in the year AD 774/5 detected in one German and two Japanese trees was recently suggested to have been caused by an impact of a comet onto Earth and a deposition of large…
Jesse Chapman, Mark Csikszentmihalyi, Ralph NeuhaeuserAug 13, 2014
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Geometric diagram for relativistic addition of velocities
A geometric diagram that allows one to visualize the Poincaré formula for relativistic addition of velocities in one dimension is presented. An analogous diagram representing the angle sum formula…
Jerzy KocikAug 7, 2014
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Reconstruction of Ancient Egyptian Sundials
The article presents the results of a study of the design features of vertical and L-shaped ancient Egyptian sundials, developed their models, on the basis of which the reconstruction of the sundial…
Larisa VodolazhskayaAug 4, 2014
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The representations of the sky among the Tomaraho
The Tomárãho is an ethnic group of the Paraguayan Chaco who maintained close contact with nature and developed original ways of explaining and understanding it. This article presents the first…
Guillermo Sequera, Alejandro GanguiAug 1, 2014
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What does Maxwell's demon want from life? When information becomes functional and physical
Szilard's one-molecule engine is operated by a Maxwell's demon attempting to convert heat to work. It is argued here that when using the demon to relate information to work (Landauer's…
J. H. van HaterenJul 31, 2014
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Einstein and Planck on mass-energy equivalence in 1905-06: a modern perspective
Einstein's theoretical analysis of mass-energy equivalence, already, at the time, experimentally evident in radioactive decays, in two papers published in 1905, as well as Planck's…
J. H. FieldJul 30, 2014
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Galileo in early modern Denmark, 1600-1650
The scientific revolution in the first half of the seventeenth century, pioneered by figures such as Harvey, Galileo, Gassendi, Kepler and Descartes, was disseminated to the northernmost countries in…
Helge KraghJul 28, 2014
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Diplomacy and science in the context of World War II: Arthur Compton's 1941 trip to Brazil
Historical literature has traced US efforts to bring Latin American countries over to the side of the Allies in WWII. Following a period of hesitation and negotiation with the US and Germany, the…
Olival Freire Junior, Indianara SilvaJul 25, 2014
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The Function of the Second Postulate in Special Relativity
Many authors noted that the principle of relativity, together with space-time symmetries, suffices to derive Lorentz-like coordinate transformations between inertial frames. These contain a free…
Alon DroryJul 21, 2014
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Robert W. Zwanzig: Formulated nonequilibrium statistical mechanics
This article is a brief Retrospective on the life and work of Robert W. Zwanzig, who formulated nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and who passed away in May of this year.
Hans C. Andersen, David ChandlerJul 19, 2014
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On the Observations of the Sun in Polynesia
The role of the Polynesian sun god Tagaloa has been studied. The Polynesian characters Maui-tikitiki, Tane and Tiki were related to the sun as well. The solar data of Easter Island are essential…
Sergei RjabchikovJul 18, 2014
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Who creates the Time: Nature or Human?
The paper defends the thesis that analysis of time meaning in a context of philosophy of physical and mathematical natural sciences and philosophical anthropology allows to clear basis of human being…
Sergey KulikovJul 16, 2014
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Jayant Vishnu Narlikar
An essay on Jyant Narlikar in the Living Legends of Indian Science series of the journal Current Science.
Naresh DadhichJul 15, 2014
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Enrico Fermi and the Dolomites
Summer vacations in the Dolomites were a tradition among the professors of the Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Roma since the end of the XIX century. Beyond the…
Giovanni Battimelli, Alessandro De AngelisJul 15, 2014
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Conceptual Preconditions of Overcoming of Relativistic Intentions in Modern Philosophy of Science
The paper defends the thesis that it's possible to maintain some conceptual preconditions of overcoming of relativistic intentions in modern philosophy of science ("there are no any general…
Sergey KulikovJul 14, 2014
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