Familiarity with chemistry from children’s toy kits leads Weinberg to investigate physics, the subject that underlies all of chemistry. He reads George Gamow’s Mr. Tompkins books, among others. He is admitted to the famous Bronx High School of Science, where he becomes friends with Shelly Glashow and Gary Feinberg, who would also become well-known physicists. He wins a New York state scholarship to Cornell.

This chapter argues that Hegel’s aim in his philosophy of nature is not to compete with natural science but to show that there is reason in nature – reason that science cannot see but that works through the causal processes discovered by science. It considers first the transition from Hegel’s logic to his philosophy of nature and argues that the latter continues the project of the former, starting with reason, or the “absolute idea”, as nature, as sheer externality. It then argues that Hegel derives nature’s categories logically – a priori – from the idea-as-externality, and subsequently matches them with empirical phenomena (rather than constructing categories to fit the latter). It provides an abridged account of Hegel’s physics in order to show how the categories of physical (as opposed to mechanical or organic) nature are derived from one another and how they are embodied in physical phenomena, such as sound, heat, and magnetism. It then concludes by arguing that, contrary to appearances, Hegel’s conception of light complements, and is not simply at odds with, that presented by quantum physics.

While dismissing what he regards as empty, extrinsic use of analogy in the spurious play of contemporaneous philosophies of nature, Hegel acknowledges the importance of analogy and appreciates its role in many empirical scientific discoveries. In the Logic, Hegel provides a speculative-rational criterion to distinguish between superficial and well-grounded analogies, for both inorganic and organic bodies, using an example of his “syllogism of analogy” drawn from celestial mechanics. Hegel’s point is that, from the standpoint of philosophical science, what empirical science may view only as “parts” of a complex form are essentially mutually related as interdependent moments of one whole. This chapter discusses the role of analogy in Hegel’s Absolute Mechanics, accounting for his view that the structural or constitutive form of the organism already begins to appear in the ‘ideal’ point of unity which governs the movement of free, independent bodies in the solar system, and for his reappraisal of the solar system as manifesting a thoroughgoing unity (Physics). Finally, this chapter argues for the thesis of a sufficient legacy of Kant’s analogical theory of the arrangement of the heavenly bodies in Hegel’s self-sublating finite mechanical account of the starry vault in his Philosophy of Nature.

John Buridan devotes an extensive discussion to final causality in two questions of his commentary on Book ii of the Physics: one asks whether the end is a cause (q. 7) and the other asks whether the necessity in natural operations derives from the end or from matter (q. 13). These two questions are the focus of this essay, which provides a detailed presentation of Buridan’s view, explaining its philosophical significance and setting it in the context of the medieval debate about final causality. It also points out the originality of Buridan’s view. Departing from the dominant medieval interpretation of Aristotle’s concept of the final cause, Buridan does not try to defend the idea that the end to which an action or change is directed is properly speaking a cause of that action, and in doing so he undermines the main assumptions at work in the Aristotelian account of finality in nature.

By first providing a summary of the main arguments in each chapter and then highlighting the ways, elaborated in this study, in which Empedocles’ physics is consistent with his religious interests in rebirth and purification, Chapter 8 sets out the main conclusion of this book, namely that rebirth and purification are an integral part of Empedocles’ physical system; indeed, that rebirth seems to be a premise of some of his physical principles and theories. In doing so, in addition to a new textual reconstruction of the proem of the physical poem, this book offers new insights into pivotal concepts and much debated issues of Empedocles’ thought, such as the conceptualization of rebirth and the notions of daimon, soul and personal survival, the purpose and role of physical doctrine for release from rebirth, the reconstruction of the cosmic cycle and the analysis of its moral significance. Finally, it is emphasized that this novel reconstruction of Empedocles’ thought, together with the book’s methodological standard, can provide a key to approaching and re-evaluating the character and aims of the thought of other early thinkers and of fifth-century natural philosophy in general.

In this chapter, I present Aristotle’s arguments in his books on Physics defending the claim that there is purposiveness in nature independent of thinking, foresight and deliberation. Hegel’s arguments for objective purposiveness are correctly understood only in light of those of Aristotle. In fact, I argue that the sense in which teleology is for Hegel the truth of mechanism (and, ultimately, of causality) is the sense in which, for Aristotle, final causes are the cause of ‘that which comes to be by nature’ and the cause of other kinds of causes (matter, efficient causes and even form) being where they are and having the effects that they eventually have. The chapter revises Aristotle’s understanding of this connection.

The physics chapter by Klaus Wendt, Andreas Pysik and Johannes Lhotzky aims at promoting deeper understanding of the complex phenomenon of the rainbow and encourages learners to demonstrate and share their understanding through a Wikipedia article. In this deeper learning episode, learners carry out a number of experiments on spectral colours and colour sequences. They organise the information gathered and explain the physics concepts and processes underlying the phenomenon. The authors use innovative ways of scaffolding academic language development to increase the meaning-making potential of younger learners.

This chapter continues exploring powers from the inside. The Informational Thesis claims that powers carry representational, nonpropositional, map-like information geared toward their potential manifestations. First, this chapter motivates an ontological connection between information and powers via two arguments, one based on physics and one based on causation. Second, the modality of powers from the inside is illuminated using the blueprinting metaphor advanced by Neil Williams, which centrally involves an informational component. This prompts a more detailed discussion of the nature of information. Third, some important implications of the Informational Thesis are discussed, including its relation to the dispositional modality posited by Rani Lill Anjum and Stephen Mumford, the analysis of powers (dispositions), and the power/quality (dispositional/categorical) distinction. The chapter’s conclusion explores how the three d’s of the 3d account are interrelated and form a rich, novel account of powers.

Enigmas make for compelling puzzles because they inspire hope that fresh insights may be found through revisiting an enduring problem from a unique angle or engaging with diverse perspectives. This introduction briefly discusses the theme of 'enigmas' and their prominence across different disciplines and throughout time. Enigmas resonate with the processes and methodologies of research practices across the arts, sciences, and humanities, as is clear from the range of topics covered in the volume's eight chapters. Each of the chapters then receives a short introduction detailing the author's topic and main argument. Although some enigmas can, at first glance, seem to pose insurmountable challenges to humanity, the overall impression provided by this volume is one of hope. Even problems which initially appear overwhelming can be scrutinised, interpreted, and ultimately resolved.

This chapter guides the reader through three related enigmas of modern physics. The first is a mystery of quantum mechanics. Important aspects of quantum mechanics are still not truly understood, although competing theories have been proposed, including the Many-Worlds approach. The second enigma is the emergence of spacetime, and especially the way it interacts with gravity. Rather than following the traditional methodology of ‘quantising’ classical theories, the author proposes an alternative approach and instead seeks gravity within quantum mechanics. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the mystery of the arrow of time: what distinguishes the past from the future. Together, these three mysteries of modern physics serve as an important reminder of the endurance of enigmas in the very foundations of scholarly fields. Re-examining founding principles can provide a constructive alternative means of investigating mysteries, not only in modern science but also across other disciplines.

Undergraduate research experiences have been identified as a high-impact practice in higher education.Within the physics community, research experiences were cited as a critical educational experience for undergraduate students by many thriving physics programs. Furthermore, the discipline has, for many years, supported undergraduate research experiences by advocating for and funding such programs as well as providing opportunities for undergraduate students to present their research at professional conferences and in peer-reviewed professional journals. In this chapter, the authors briefly highlight the benefits of research experiences to undergraduate physics students along with some of the known or community-accepted best practices for engaging undergraduate students in research. The authors also discuss the challenges faced by the community surrounding equity and our ability to engage all students in this meaningful professional and educational experience. While challenges exist, there are opportunities for the physics community to successfully address them through hard work, creativity, and innovation.

We are now halfway through our book. It may appear to be a coincidence that insight and creative thinking appear at the “center” of a book on problem solving, a coincidence that the gestalt psychologists would surely have liked. Contemplating how the young Gauss solved an arithmetic problem, and considering how a mutilated checkerboard problem is solved, while realizing that the solution of these problems are analogous to how snowflakes look, may come as a surprise. It should not because all three are based on symmetry and invariance. Before discussing how “ordinary” insight problems are solved, this chapter describes the insights that led Galileo, Archimedes, and Einstein to their scientific discoveries. Physicists have known for over a century that there would be no science based on the natural laws, and no natural laws in the first place, if there were no symmetry in nature. So what encouraged this to happen just over a 100 years ago? In 1918, Emmy Noether formulated and proved her mathematical theorems that revolutionized physics. Her theorems showed how the conservation laws can be derived from the symmetry of these laws by applying a least-action principle. The review of symmetry in scientific discovery presented in this chapter provides the stage for a new formalism of problem solving that may apply not only to the sophisticated areas of science, but also to “ordinary” brain teasers, as well as to the TSP and the 15-puzzle.

Covers the creative, but often neglected, period between the mid first century BCE and mid first century CE.

Includes some aspects of Diogenes of Babylon’s philosophy, but focusses on the impact of the Academic Carneades on Stoicism from Antipater of Tarsus onwards. Extensive coverage of Panaetius of Rhodes and his students, including Hecaton. Balances the contributions of both innovative thinkers and more conservative Stoics.