Talking about Dead Scientific Objects. Ether, Phlogiston and Other Corpses

Abstract

At times, history of science is reduced to a chronology of theories, concepts or experimental findings that appear and disappear on the stage of science. Two words are often used to describe these moments of history: discovery and falsification; and with them a simplistic idea of scientific progress is conveyed. In these accounts, the new theories or concepts supersede old ones because the latter were (now) obviously wrong. The question of what to do with the former becomes irrelevant: they should naturally be rejected as false or erroneous. Implicit in these story lines is scientific monism; namely, the notion that one phenomenon may have only one legitimate explanation. Alternatively, one could adopt a pluralistic approach and suggest that several scientific explanations might co-exist. In his Is Water H₂O, Hasok Chang (2014) gives an alternative account of the so-called Chemical Revolution and argues for the latter. To do so, his favourite case study is the long-dismissed phlogiston (Chang 2009), an entity supposedly existing in pre-Lavoisier chemistry and rejected with the appearance of oxygen. The electromagnetic ether is another example of a supposedly absurd notion that physicists naïvely used in the 19^th century and that modern physics supposedly proved not to exist. In the recent collective volume Ether and Modernity (2018) some of us have shown the ways in which the ether remained and, at times, was even reinforced in the early 20^th century. The co-existence of several physical theories, some with the ether, others without, may be yet another example of scientific pluralism, thus giving a more nuanced picture of the complexities of the work of scientists. In this session I shall explain the results of our project on the demise of the ether as a case-study for scientific pluralism as well as an example of the complexities of writing the history of dead scientific objects.

Selected References 

• Arabatzis Th (2006) Representing Electrons. A Biographical Approach to Theoretical Entities. Chicago University Press, Chicago.
• Badino M, Navarro J (2018) Introduction. “Ether—The Multiple Lives of a Resilient Concept”. In Navarro 2018.
• Chang H (2009) We Have Never Been Whiggish (About Phlogiston). Centaurus 51:239-264.
• Chang H (2011) The Persistence of Epistemic Objects Through Scientific Change. Erkenntnis 75:413-429.
• Chang H (2014) Is Water H₂O? Evidence, Realism and Pluralism. Springer, Dordrecht.
• Daston L (2000) (ed) Biographies of Scientific Objects. Chicago University Press, Chicago.
• Navarro J (2016) Ether and Wireless. An old medium into new media. Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences 46/4:460-489.
• Navarro J (2018) (ed) Ether and Modernity. The Recalcitrance of an Epistemic Object in the early twentieth century. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Contact

• jaume.navarro@ehu.eus
  

Is Science Universal?

Abstract

It is often admitted that science is one of the few (and perhaps the only one) among human endeavours which may pretend to universality, beyond the differences in cultures, languages and social organizations. Relying upon various points of view (ethnographical, linguistic, historical) and appealing to many examples, from Japanese wasan to hypothetical extraterrestrial sciences, it may be shown that this opinion deserves reexamination — without implying any simplistic relativism. If knowledge production is no doubt a characteristic of any human society, its forms and functions are varied enough to entail that considering it in terms of an alleged universality of science leads to underestimate the interest and fecundity of its cultural diversity. And while it is true that the present globalization sustains a strong homogeneization of scientific practices in geographical space, it simultaneously entails a new and deep mutation in historical time.

Selected References 

• Ascher M (1991) Ethnomathematics: A Multicultural View of Mathematical Ideas. Brooks/Cole
• Ascher M (2002) Mathematics Elsewhere: An Exploration of Ideas across Cultures. Princeton University Press, NJ.
• Dahan A (2000) La tension nécessaire: les savoirs scientifiques entre universalité et localité. Alliage 45-46.
• Lévy-Leblond JM (1996) La science est-elle universelle? La vitesse de l’ombre. Seuil, Paris.
• Renan R (1890) L’avenir de la science. Calmann-Lévy, Paris.

Contact

• jmll@unice.fr

Xperium. A Place to Experience Research and Innovation with High School!

Abstract

Xperium is a showcase of ongoing research particularly dedicated to students of upper secondary schools. The main objectives are linked to policies for a successful transition from High School to University and an awareness of careers in research. Xperium offers over 2 hours, a route in 8 steps, i.e. 8 experiments gathered around a single theme. Each of them is presented, performed, guided by a PhD specialist in the field, able to adapt and respond to questions of visitors. A global educational process is proposed to the students, beyond the visit itself. Before it, students are made aware by their teachers on the theme of the exhibition, on research activity, on jobs, etc. The visit enables to watch the research experiment, listen to the doctoral students, ask them questions, etc. Back to classroom, students comment and deepen the visit in relation with programs, jobs, social issues, etc. The teachers are accompanied throughout the process by the Xperium staff, who provides them a documentary kit. In my talk, I will propose a virtual guided tour in Xperium. I will emphasize its main characteristics through examples taken in the fields of physics, mathematics and history/epistemology of science.

[In collaboration with: S. Picart, E. Milent, O. Mignotte, J. Roche, H. Deleuze, D. Tissoires, Lille University, France].

Reference

https://lilliad.univ-lille.fr/welcome

Contact

• jean.cosleou@univ-lille.fr

The Reappearance of a Genius: Ettore Majorana, His Life and Works

Abstract

Born in Sicily, Italy in 1906, Ettore Majorana was one of the most important scientists in the XX century; the Nobel Laureate Enrico Fermi – his mentor – held him to have been a genius of the rank of Galilei and Newton. And, indeed, his name appears repeatedly today in many different areas of science, including physics, mathematics, computer science, and even economics, and this is due to his unprecedented farsightedness in studying a number of different topics, notwithstanding he was barely a reluctant scientist, with just a handful of published papers. Majorana’s fame, however, is also indissolubly related to his mysterious disappearance from Naples in 1938, when he was still 31 years old. Despite several conjectures about his fate – including suicide, a retreat in a monastery and a flight to a foreign country – and the uninterrupted search for a reason for such a dramatic decision – ranging from personal and familiar, to nice literary tales –, nothing certain has emerged during the years about his disappearance. Also for this reason, since many years the “Majorana case” overstepped the boundaries of science, and imposed itself as a social case too. Indeed, a number of papers, books, comics, theatrical and cinematographic representations, etc. invaded the world market, not always by proper means, and the “case” repeatedly interested mass and social media. After a biographical sketch of the Italian scientist, I will present just such a case, letting the audience to appreciate how advanced and profound is the (published and unpublished) work by one of the giants of the XX century.

References

• Di Grezia E, Esposito S (2004) Fermi, Majorana and the statistical model of atoms. Foundations of Physics 34:1431-1450
• Di Mauro M, Esposito S, Naddeo A (2016) Majorana and the theoretical problem of electron-photon scattering. Advances in Historical Studies 5:113-125
• Drago A, Esposito S (2004) Following weyl on quantum mechanics: the contribution of Ettore Majorana. Foundations of Physics 34:871-887
• Drago A, Esposito S (2007) Ettore Majorana's course on theoretical physics: a recent discovery. Physics in perspective 9:329-345
• Esposito S (2002). Majorana solution of the Thomas-Fermi equation. American Journal of Physics 70:852-856
• Esposito S (2006) Ettore Majorana: Lezioni di Fisica Teorica. Bibliopolis, Naples.
• Esposito S (2006) A peculiar lecture by Ettore Majorana. European Journal of Physics 27:1147-1156
• Esposito S (2006) Majorana and the path-integral approach to quantum mechanics. Annales de la Fondation Louis de Broglie 31:1-19
• Esposito S (2007) Hole theory and quantum electrodynamics in an unknown manuscript in french by Ettore Majorana. Foundations of Physics 37:956-976
• Esposito S (2007) An unknown story: Majorana and the Pauli-Weisskopf scalar electrodynamics. Annalen der Physik 16:824-841
• Esposito S (2008) Majorana and the quasi-stationary states in nuclear physics. Foundations of Physics 38:228-240
• Esposito S (2009) A theory of ferromagnetism by Ettore Majorana. Annals of Physics 324:16-29
• Esposito S (2010) Fundamental times, lengths and physical constants: some unknown contributions by Ettore Majorana. Annalen der Physik 522:456-466
• Esposito S (2010) The disappearance of Ettore Majorana: an analytic examination. Contemporary Physics 51:193-209
• Esposito S (2012) Searching for an equation: Dirac, Majorana and the others. Annals of Physics 327:1617-1644
• Esposito S (2014) The physics of Ettore Majorana - Phenomenological, theoretical and mathematical. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
• Esposito S (2017) Ettore Majorana - Unveiled genius and endless mysteries. Springer, Heidelberg
• Esposito S, Naddeo A (2012) Majorana solutions to the two-electron problem. Foundations of Physics 42:1586-1608
• Esposito S, Naddeo A (2015) Majorana, Pauling and the quantum theory of the chemical bond. Annalen der Physik 527:A29-A33
• Esposito S, Naddeo A (2015) Homopolar bond and ionic structures: two contributions by Majorana. Annales de la Fondation Louis de Broglie 40:157-179
• Esposito S, Majorana E, van der Merwe A, Recami E (2003) Ettore Majorana: Notes on Theoretical Physics. Kluwer, New York.
• Esposito S, Recami E, van der Merwe A, Battiston R (2008) Ettore Majorana: Unpublished research notes on Theoretical Physics. Springer, Heidelberg

Contact

• salvatore.esposito@na.infn.it

Please see Dr. Esposito Salvatore's abstract as a co-organized lecture

Abstract

References

• Esposito S, Majorana E, van der Merwe A, Recami E (2003) Ettore Majorana: Notes on Theoretical Physics. Kluwer, New York.
• Esposito S, Recami E, van der Merwe A, Battiston R (2008) Ettore Majorana: Unpublished research notes on Theoretical Physics. Springer, Heidelberg
• ...and many others, please see in the web 

Contact

• erasmo.recami@mi.infn.it