Philosophy of Physical Magnitudes [Paperback]

Would the world be any different if we doubled all the masses, or all the lengths, or all the charges?Dimensional quantities such as length, mass and charge, i.e., numbers combined with a conventional unit, are essential components of theories in the sciences. This Element illustrates questions about them by imagining how one would convey the meaning of a kilogram to aliens if one were only allowed to communicate via Morse code.Dimensional quantities such as length, mass and charge, i.e., numbers combined with a conventional unit, are essential components of theories in the sciences. This Element illustrates questions about them by imagining how one would convey the meaning of a kilogram to aliens if one were only allowed to communicate via Morse code.Dimensional quantities such as length, mass and charge, i.e., numbers combined with a conventional unit, are essential components of theories in the sciences, especially physics, chemistry and biology. Do they represent a world with absolute physical magnitudes, or are they merely magnitude ratios in disguise? Would we notice a difference if all the distances or charges in the world suddenly doubled? These central questions of this Element are illustrated by imagining how one would convey the meaning of a kilogram to aliens if one were only allowed to communicate via Morse code.1. Introduction; 2. Arguments; 3. Decision point: physical magnitudes; 4. Decision point: physical magnitudes; 5. Decision point: other initial determinables; 6. Decision point: laws & constants of nature; 7. Decision point: non-dynamical considerations; 8. Overview; References.[T]his volume offers a concise yet intellectually rich presentation of the realism/anti-realism debate concerning absolute masses. A primary merit of the work is the heuristic clarity it brings to a field often clouded by conceptual slippage - most notably the conflation of the realism/anti-realism debate with the absolutism/comparativism debate. Martens exhibits metló6