The Discovery of Dynamics A Study from a Machian Point of View of the Discovery and the Structure of Dynamical Theories

by Barbour, Julian B.

• ISBN13: 9780195132021
• ISBN10: 0195132025
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-09-06
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Ever since Newton created dynamics, there has been controversy about its foundations. Are space and time absolute? Do they form a rigid but invisible framework and container of the universe? Or are space, time, and motion relative? If so, does Newton's 'framework' arise through the influence of the universe at large, as Ernst Mach suggested? Einstein's aim when creating his general theory of relativity was to demonstrate this and thereby implement 'Mach's Principle'. However, it is widely believed that he achieved only partial success. This question of whether motion is absolute or relative has been a central issues in philosophy; the nature of time has perennial interest. Current attempts to create a quantum description of the whole universe keep these issues at the cutting edge of modern research. Written by the world's leading expert on Mach's Principle, The Discovery of Dynamics is a highly original account of the development of notions about space, time, and motion. Widely praised in its hardback version, it is one of the fullest and most readable accounts of the astronomical studies that culminated in Kepler's laws of planetary motion and of the creation of dynamics by Galileo, Descartes, Huygens, and Newton. Originally published as Absolute or Relative Motion?, Vol. 1: The Discovery of Dynamics (Cambridge), The Discovery of Dynamics provides the technical background to Barbour's recently published The End of Time , in which he argues that time disappears from the description of the quantum universe.

Author Biography

Julian Barbour is a distinguished theoretical physicist He has appeared in many television and radio programs broadcast worldwide, and was the subject of the cover story of the December 2000 issue of Discover

Table of Contents

Introduction to Volumes 1 and 2	1	(18)
Preliminaries	19	(41)
Newtons's laws and their conceptual framework	19	(10)
Invariance properties of Newtonian dynamics	29	(5)
Why it took so long to find the laws of motion	34	(8)
Why the first breakthrough occurred in astronomy	42	(4)
General comments on the absolute/relative debate	46	(8)
Was dynamics discovered or invented?	54	(6)
Aristotle: first airing of the absolute/relative problem	60	(40)
Brief review of the period up to Aristotle	60	(4)
Aristotle: the man and his vision	64	(6)
Pre-Aristotelian geometrism	70	(4)
Aristotle's natural motions	74	(3)
The corruptible and the quintessential	77	(7)
The concept of place and the self-contained universe	84	(9)
Time in Aristotelian physics	93	(7)
Hellenistic astronomy: the foundations are laid	100	(91)
Historical: the Hellenistic period	100	(4)
Purely geometrical achievements and the development of trigonometry	104	(6)
Astronomical frames of reference	110	(2)
Manifestations of the law of inertia in the heavens	112	(5)
The `flaw' from which dynamics developed	117	(1)
Kepler's laws of planetary motions	118	(4)
The zero-eccentricity and small-eccentricity forms of Kepler's laws	122	(6)
Hipparchus's theory of the apparent solar motion	128	(11)
The epicycle-deferent theory	139	(2)
First application of the epicycle-deferent theory: alternative form of Hipparchus's theory	141	(2)
Second application of the epicycle-deferent theory: the motion of the outer planets	143	(6)
Epicycle-deferent theory for the inner planets	149	(6)
The theory of the moon	155	(4)
Ptolemy and the small-eccentricity planetary system	159	(16)
Time in Ptolemaic astronomy	175	(8)
The achievement of Ptolemy and Hellenistic astronomy	183	(8)
The Middle Ages: first stirrings of the scientific revolution	191	(18)
Introduction	191	(2)
Kinematics	193	(3)
Dynamics	196	(7)
Cosmology and early ideas about relativity	203	(6)
Copernicus: the flimsy arch	209	(55)
How Copernicus came to make his discovery	209	(5)
What Copernicus did: first approximation	214	(7)
Kinematic relativity in De Revolutionibus	221	(2)
Preliminary evaluation of the significance of Copernicus's discovery	223	(4)
What Copernicus did: second approximation	227	(19)
Copernicus's concept of place and the ultimate frame of reference	246	(6)
Copernicus's concept of motion	252	(6)
The significance of the Copernican revolution: second evaluation	258	(6)
Kepler: the dominion of the sun	264	(88)
Brahe and Kepler	264	(9)
The dethronement of the usurper	273	(10)
The Zeroth Law, the vicarious hypothesis and the demise of the old order	283	(9)
The halving of the eccentricity of the earth's orbit	292	(9)
The First and Second Laws	301	(21)
Kepler's physics and his Third Law	322	(13)
Kepler's anticipation of Mach's Principle	335	(9)
A last look at the astronomy and evaluation of Brahe and Kepler's achievement	344	(8)
Galileo: the geometrization of motion	352	(54)
Brief scientific biography and general comments	352	(7)
Galileo's cosmology, overall concepts of motion, and the influence of Copernicus	359	(6)
The primordial motions: circular inertia and free fall	365	(13)
Compound motions. Parabolic motions of projectiles	378	(6)
Rotation of the earth, different forms of the law of inertia and Galilean invariance	384	(12)
Galileo and absolute motion	396	(6)
At the threshold of dynamics	402	(4)
Descartes and the new world	406	(45)
Introduction	406	(3)
The new world	409	(11)
The Cartesian concept of substance and the divide between materialism and idealism	420	(5)
The stone that put the stars to flight	425	(7)
The discovery of inertial motion: Descartes and Galileo compared	432	(3)
The intervention of the Inquisition	435	(2)
Descartes' early conception of motion	437	(3)
Descartes' revised concept of motion	440	(11)
Huygens: relativity and centrifugal force	451	(47)
Introduction	451	(4)
Collisions and relativity: general comments	455	(2)
Descartes' theory of collisions	457	(5)
Huygens' theory of collisions	462	(11)
Collisions in the centre-of-mass frame	473	(3)
The enigma of relativity	476	(2)
Centrifugal force: the work done prior to Huygens	478	(5)
Huygens' treatment of centrifugal force	483	(12)
Why Huygens failed to win the greatest prize	495	(3)
Newton I: the discovery of dynamics	498	(100)
Introduction	498	(4)
A comment on the significance of Newton's early work	502	(1)
Three types of force	503	(1)
Collisions	503	(12)
Centrifugal force: the paradigm of a continuously acting force	515	(13)
Newton's early applications of the formula for centrifugal force	528	(6)
The development of Newtonian dynamics	534	(5)
The Hooke-Newton correspondence of 1679	539	(7)
The area law, Newton's treatment of time, and the solution to the Kepler problem	546	(10)
The genesis of the Principia: Ulysses draws forth Achilles	556	(10)
The Principia: its structure, fundamental concepts and most important results	566	(32)
Newton II: absolute or relative motion?	598	(47)
General introduction: the period up to Newton	598	(7)
Newton: general comments	605	(4)
Newton's early discussion of motion and De gravitatione	609	(8)
De gravitatione: Newton's discussion of space and body	617	(6)
The Scholium on absolute space, time, and motion	623	(5)
Comments on the Scholium	628	(11)
The absolute/relative problem in the remainder of the Principia	639	(6)
Post-Newtonian conceptual clarification of Newtonian dynamics	645	(52)
Introduction	645	(1)
Neumann and Body Alpha	646	(8)
Lange and the concept of inertial systems	654	(8)
Determination of the earth's polar motion from satellite observations	662	(6)
Back to the Scholium	668	(4)
Huygens and absolute motion	672	(4)
Mach's operational definition of dynamical mass	676	(14)
Synoptic overview of the discovery of dynamics	690	(7)
Abbreviations for works quoted frequently in the References	697	(2)
References	699	(26)
Index	725