Beauty and Revolution in Science - Hardcover

McAllister, James W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801432405 ISBN 13: 9780801432408

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 1996

Synopsis

How reasonable and rational can science be when its practitioners speak of "revolutions" in their thinking and extol certain theories for their "beauty"? James W. McAllister addresses this question with the first systematic study of the aesthetic evaluations that scientists pass on their theories.

P. A. M. Dirac explained why he embraced relativity by saying, "It is the essential beauty of the theory which I feel is the real reason for believing in it." Dirac's claim seems to belie rationalist accounts of science. Using this and a wealth of other historical examples, McAllister explains how scientists' aesthetic preferences are influenced by the empirical track record of theories, describes the origin and development of aesthetic styles of theorizing, and reconsiders whether simplicity is an empirical or an aesthetic virtue of theories.

McAllister then advances an innovative model of scientific revolutions, in opposition to that of Thomas S. Kuhn. Three detailed studies demonstrate the interconnection of empirical performance, beauty, and revolution. One examines the impact of new construction materials on the history of architecture. Another reexamines the transition from the Ptolemaic system to Kepler's theory in planetary astronomy, and the third documents the rise of relativity and quantum theory in the twentieth century.

About this title

About the Author

James W. McAllister is University Lecturer in the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Leiden.

From Library Journal

McAllister (philosophy, Univ. of Leiden) critically explores the influences that aesthetic judgments have on deciding which theories best account for natural phenomena. Given his own rationalist image of scientific practice, he gives priority to objective empirical adequacy over both subjective aesthetic evaluations and traditional metaphysical preferences. Accordingly, he argues that theoretical innovations have aesthetic constraints. McAllister contends that neither Copernicus nor Einstein brought about a true revolution in astronomy or physics, respectively, because each retained the established aesthetic of theory choice. In sharp contrast, introducing ellipses over circles into mathematical astronomy and indeterminism over determinism in quantum physics represent two genuine revolutionary episodes in the history of science. Empirical success and subsequent aesthetic induction result in new norms for the scientific evaluation of future theories. This scholarly analysis of aesthetic predilections and paradigm switchings in scientific communities is recommended for all academic libraries.?H. James Birx, Canisius Coll., Buffalo, N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0801432405
• ISBN 13: 9780801432408
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 240