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History and Philosophy of Physics papers — page 99

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Laborexperimente zur Entstehung und Wirkung kosmischer Magnetfelder
Magnetic fields of cosmic bodies are generated by the hydromagnetic dynamo effect in moving electrically conducting fluids, such as liquid metals or plasmas. Once produced, cosmic magnetic fields are…
Frank StefaniMar 10, 2014
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Solving the Hard Problem of Bertrand's Paradox
Bertrand's paradox is a famous problem of probability theory, pointing to a possible inconsistency in Laplace's principle of insufficient reason. In this article we show that Bertrand's…
Diederik Aerts, Massimiliano Sassoli de BianchiMar 8, 2014
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Principle of processes discernibility
The principle of classification of macroprocesses is offered, which allows to avoid some methodological mistakes of modern natural sciences. The content and the nearest consequences of this principle…
V. A. EtkinMar 6, 2014
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A Medieval Multiverse: Mathematical Modelling of the 13th Century Universe of Robert Grosseteste
In his treatise on light, written in about 1225, Robert Grosseteste describes a cosmological model in which the Universe is created in a big-bang like explosion and subsequent condensation. He…
Richard G. Bower, Tom C. B. McLeish F. R. S., Brian K. Tanner et al.Mar 4, 2014
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Ya. B. Zeldovich (1914-1987): Chemist, Nuclear Physicist, Cosmologist
Ya.B. Zeldovich was a pre-eminent Soviet physicist whose seminal contributions spanned many fields ranging from physical chemistry to nuclear and particle physics, and finally astrophysics and…
Varun SahniMar 4, 2014
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Les inégalités de Bell et l'article Einstein, Podolsky, Rosen, une relecture
The relationship between the Bell article in 1964 and its well known inequalities with the Einstein Podolsky Rosen article in 1935 is revisited. Einstein views on quantum mechanics as stated in many…
Pierre RousselMar 3, 2014
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The Emu Sky Knowledge of the Kamilaroi and Euahlayi Peoples
This paper presents a detailed study of the knowledge of the Kamilaroi and Euahlayi peoples about the Emu in the Sky. This study was done with ethnographic data that was not previously reported in…
Robert Fuller, Michael Anderson, Ray Norris et al.Mar 3, 2014
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The True (?) Story of Hilbert's Infinite Hotel
What is known as "Hilbert's hotel" is a story of an imaginary hotel with infinitely many rooms that illustrates the bizarre consequences of assuming an actual infinity of objects or…
Helge KraghMar 1, 2014
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George Howard Herbig, 1920-2013
A great astronomer, George Herbig, passed away in Honolulu on October 12, 2013, at the age of 93. His life and career were long and productive, and consistently dedicated to the careful, thorough…
David R. SoderblomFeb 26, 2014
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On the role of simplicity in science
Simple assumptions represent a decisive reason to prefer one theory to another in everyday scientific praxis. But this praxis has little philosophical justification, since there exist many notions of…
Luigi ScorzatoFeb 26, 2014
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The Inquisition's Semicolon: Punctuation, Translation, and Science in the 1616 Condemnation of the Copernican System
This paper presents high-resolution images of the original document of the 24 February 1616 condemnation of the Copernican system, as being "foolish and absurd in philosophy", by a team of…
Christopher M. GraneyFeb 25, 2014
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Fermi and the Theory of Weak Interactions
The history of weak interactions starting with Fermi's creation of the beta decay theory and culminating in its modern avatar in the form of the electroweak gauge theory is described. Discoveries…
G. RajasekaranFeb 25, 2014
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Charles Michie Smith - founder of the Kodaikanal (Solar Physics) Observatory and beginnings of physical astronomy in India
It has been about 115 years since the establishment of Kodaikanal Observatory as an extension of the original Madras Observatory, which has evolved into the present Indian Institute of Astrophysics…
N. Kameswara Rao, A. Vagiswari, Christina BirdieFeb 24, 2014
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Bhavnagar Telescope: the most widely travelled telescope in the country
In the last decade of the 19th century Maharaja Takhtasingji Observatory was built at Poona (1888-1912) under the supervision of K.D.Naegamavala, with the grant from Maharaja of Bhavnagar (from where…
N. Kameswara Rao, Christina Birdie, A. VagiswariFeb 24, 2014
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On the origins and the historical roots of the Higgs boson research from a bibliometric perspective
Subject of our present paper is the analysis of the origins or historical roots of the Higgs boson research from a bibliometric perspective, using a segmented regression analysis in a reference…
Andreas Barth, Werner Marx, Lutz Bornmann et al.Feb 17, 2014
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Schwinger's Quantum Action Principle. I. From Dirac's Formulation through Feynman's Path Integrals to the Schwinger-Keldysh Method
Starting from the earlier notions of stationary action principles, we show how Schwinger's Quantum Action Principle descended from Dirac's formulation, which independently led Feynman to his…
K. A. MiltonFeb 16, 2014
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Einstein's aborted attempt at a dynamic steady-state universe
In June 1930 Einstein visited Cambridge where he stayed with Eddington who had just shown that Einstein's supposedly static universe of 1917 was not stable. This forced Einstein to rethink his…
Harry NussbaumerFeb 14, 2014
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Fermi-Dirac Statistics
Here we have discussed on Fermi-Dirac statistics, in particular, on its brief historical progress, derivation, consequences, applications, etc. Importance of Fermi-Dirac statistics has been discussed…
Shyamal BiswasFeb 14, 2014
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Wilson's renormalization group: a paradigmatic shift
A personal and subjective recollection, concerning mainly Wilson's lectures delivered over the spring of 1972 at Princeton University (summary of a talk at Cornell University on November 16, 2013…
Edouard BrezinFeb 14, 2014
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A Kepler's note on secular inequalities
I discuss the problem of secular inequalities in Kepler by giving account of a manuscript note that has not been published until 1860. In his note Kepler points out the need for a model, clearly…
Antonio GiorgilliFeb 13, 2014
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Einstein's cosmological considerations
The objective of this paper is not simply to present an historical overview of Einstein's cosmological considerations, but to discuss the central role they played in shaping the paradigm of…
Daryl JanzenFeb 13, 2014
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Callisto III e la Cometa di Halley: la ricerca di Johan Stein SJ tra leggenda e storia
The Dutch Jesuit astronomer Johan Stein published in 1909 a text about the legend on a papal bull of Pope Callixtus III against the comet of 1456. This comet happened to be the Halley's one. The…
Costantino SigismondiFeb 9, 2014
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An international campaign of the 19th century to determine the solar parallax - The US Naval expedition to the southern hemisphere 1849 - 1852
In 1847 Christian Ludwig Gerling, Marburg (Germany), suggested the solar parallax to be determined by measuring the position of Venus close to its inferior conjunction, especially at the stationary…
Andreas SchrimpfFeb 9, 2014
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Origins of Megalithic Astronomy in Britain
By c. 3000 BC, in the late Neolithic, there had been a significant change in the way people materialized their cosmology across Scotland with the introduction of free-standing stones. These were…
Gail Higginbottom, Roger ClayFeb 6, 2014
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Two Kinds of Discovery: An Ontological Account
What can we discover? As the discussion in this paper is limited to ontological considerations, it does not deal with the discovery of new concepts. It raises the following question: What are the…
Amihud GileadFeb 2, 2014
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