Of Clouds and Clocks. An Approach to the Problem of Rationality and the Freedom of Man. The Arthur Holly Compton Memorial Lecture Presented at Washington University, April 21, 1965.

POPPER, Karl.

Published by St Louis: Washington University, 1966

About this Item

First edition, first printing, inscribed by the author on the title page "To W. S. Collins from K. R. Popper June 1966". A candidate for the recipient is Walter Stowe Collins (1926-1997), professor of music at the University of Oakland, and author of various books on the subject; Popper had a well-known interest in music throughout his life. "Karl Popper's influential 1966 essay 'Of Clouds and Clocks' contrasts two physical systems, the indeterminate, such as the irregular formation and dissipation of clouds and the determinate, epitomized by the precise workings of a clock. All other phenomena in the world, argues Popper, lie between these two polarities. For him, the cloud is analogous to the disorderly forces of the natural world while the clock represents the scientific approach, the reductionist Newtonian position that 'all clouds are clocks', all the mysteries of the universe will be unlocked by science in time. Following Charles Sanders Pierce, Popper asserts that even the most minutely analysed organism or system contains a certain looseness or imperfection', which he ascribes to chance" (Elwes). The lecture was later included in his collection Objective Knowledge, 1978. Catherine Elwes, Landscape and the Moving Image, 2022. Octavo. Wire stitched as issued in stiff printed paper wrappers. A fine copy.

Seller Inventory # 160006

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Of Clouds and Clocks. An Approach to the Problem of Rationality and the Freedom of Man. The Arthur Holly Compton Memorial Lecture Presented at Washington University, April 21, 1965.
• Publisher: St Louis: Washington University, 1966
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)