This book describes the picture of reality given by Newton, and the development of the later picture of reality given by field theory. In telling this story, the author explains what problem each scientist faced, and how the process of solving them led to new discoveries. By this method he gives unique insight into the understanding of Einstein’s special theory of relativity, as he explains exactly what problems led to the invention of the theory, and exactly where Einstein’s solution differed from his predecessors’. A similar analysis is given of the discoveries of Faraday, Maxwell, Hertz and Lorentz. The problem-oriented approach of the book, originally published in 1974, enables the reader to share in the original creative process, and in the excitement of the discoveries. It puts physics problems into new perspective and discusses the philosophical implications of the history - an illuminating account of a great episode in the history of thought.

Force Fields collects the recent essays of Martin Jay, an intellectual historian and cultural critic internationally known for his extensive work on the history of Western Marxism and the intellectual migration from Germany to America.

This history of physics focuses on the question, "How do bodies act on one another across space?" The variety of answers illustrates the function of fundamental analogies or models in physics, as well as the role of so-called unobservable entities. Forces and Fields presents an in-depth look at the science of ancient Greece, and it examines the influence of antique philosophy on seventeenth-century thought. Additional topics embrace many elements of modern physics—the empirical basis of quantum mechanics, wave-particle duality and the uncertainty principle, and the action-at-a-distance theory of Wheeler and Feynman. The introductory chapter, in which the philosophical view is developed, can be omitted by readers more interested in history. Author Mary B. Hesse examines the use of analogies in primitive scientific explanation, particularly in the works of Aristotle, and contrasts them with latter-day theories such as those of gravitation and relativity. Hesse incorporates studies of the Pre-Socratics initiated by Francis Cornford and continued by contemporary classical historians. Her perspective sheds considerable light on the scientific thinking of antiquity, and it highlights the debt that the seventeenth-century natural philosophers owed to Greek ideas.

Katalog fra udstilling i Barcelona og London, 2000.

The many similarities between gravitational and electromagnetic fields suggest that they may be characterized by a single (super) source function. A complex vector source is found to yield the correct interaction strengths (the scalar products of these vectors) for the classical inverse-square law forces between electrically charged masses. The real vector component has the magnitude of the coulomb charge of the body. The magnitude of the imaginary vector component is given by the mass of the body renormalized in units of charge. Complex vector charges (CVC), for the classical electron, proton, and neutron are developed. Appropriate sums of these vectors represent the atoms. Substitution of CVC for coulomb (scalar) charge in Maxwell's equations generates two separable sets of equations: the real component set, characterizing electromagnetic fields; and the imaginary component set, characterizing gravitational fields. The imaginary electric field represents the Newtonian gravitational field, whereas the imaginary magnetic field results in motional gravitational forces similar to those found in general relativity theory. Such forces would result in the gradual alignment of planetary orbits and spins. Acceleration of CVC generates (classical) complex radiation fields, that is, positive-energy photons and negative-energy gravitons. Thus conservation of energy requires that all charge-neutral, finite inertial rest mass particles possess non-vanishing electromagnetic moments. Extension to a nonclassical theory that can include both atomic and nuclear binding energies is suggested. (Author).

Text and simple experiments introduce electrical, magnetic, and gravitational force fields.