Interpreting Physics Language and the Classical/Quantum Divide [Paperback]

This book is the first to offer a systematic account of the role of language in the development and interpretation of physics. An historical-conceptual analysis of the co-evolution of mathematical and physical concepts leads to the classical/quatum interface. Bohrian orthodoxy stresses the indispensability of classical concepts and the functional role of mathematics. This book analyses ways of extending, and then going beyond this orthodoxy orthodoxy. Finally, the book analyzes how a revised interpretation of physics impacts on basic philosophical issues: conceptual revolutions, realism, and reductionism.Here is a systematic account of the role of language in the development and interpretation of physics. Coverage includes analysis showing how a revised interpretation of physics impacts on philosophical issues: conceptual revolutions, realism and reductionism.Preface.- 1. A Philosphical Overview.- 2. From Categories to Quantative Concepts,- 3. The Unification of Classical Physics.- 4. Classical Physics.- 5. Orthodox Quantum Mechanics.- 6. Beyond a Minimal Basis.- 7. Interpreting Physics.This book is the first to offer a systematic account of the role of language in the development and interpretation of physics. An historical-conceptual analysis of the co-evolution of mathematical and physical concepts leads ti the classical/quatum interface. Bohrian orthodoxy stresses the indispensability of classical concepts and the functional role of mathematics. We analyze ways of extending and then going beyond this orthodoxy orthodoxy. Finally, the book analyzes how a revised interpretation of physics impacts on basic philosophical issues: conceptual revolutions, realism, and reductionism.

This is the only systematic treatment of the role of language in the interpretation of physics

The interpretation of quantum mechanics accommodates current advances in quantum field theory

This book breaches the separation between analysis and phill³"