God and the Uniformity of Nature

2019 ◽  
pp. 97-110
Author(s):  
Matthew Stanley
Keyword(s):  
Natural World ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
James Clerk Maxwell ◽  
Modern Physics ◽  
William Thomson ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Religiously Based ◽  
John Tyndall ◽  
Lord Kelvin

Today the laws of physics are often seen as evidence for a naturalistic worldview. However, historically, physics was usually considered compatible with belief in God. Foundations of physics such as thermodynamics, uniformity of nature, and causality were seen as religiously based by physicists such as James Clerk Maxwell and William Thomson, Lord Kelvin. These were usually interpreted as evidence of design by a creative deity. In the late nineteenth century, John Tyndall and other scientific naturalists made the argument that these foundations were more sympathetic to a non-religious understanding of the natural world. With the success of this approach, twentieth-century religious physicists tended to stress non-material and experiential connections rather than looking for evidence of design. Later parts of that century saw a revival of natural theological arguments in the form of the anthropic principle and the fine-tuning problem. While modern physics is naturalistic, this was not inevitable and there were several alternative approaches common in earlier times.

Models and Mechanisms

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henk W. de Regt
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Molecular Models ◽  
Mechanical Modeling ◽  
James Clerk Maxwell ◽  
Mechanical Explanation ◽  
Mechanical Models ◽  
William Thomson ◽  
Lord Kelvin

This chapter analyzes the role of mechanical modeling in nineteenth-century physics, showing how precisely mechanical models were used to enhance scientific understanding. It discusses the work and ideas of William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), James Clerk Maxwell, and Ludwig Boltzmann, who advanced explicit views on the function and status of mechanical models, in particular, on their role in providing understanding. A case study of the construction of molecular models to explain the so-called specific heat anomaly highlights the role of conceptual tools in achieving understanding and shows that intelligibility is an epistemically relevant feature of mechanical models. Next, the chapter examines Boltzmann’s Bildtheorie, an interpretation of mechanical models that he developed in response to problems and criticisms of the program of mechanical explanation, and his associated pragmatic conception of understanding. The final section discusses the limitations of mechanical models and Ernst Mach’s criticism of the mechanical program.

scholarly journals Helmholtz and the British scientific elite: From force conservation to energy conservation

2011 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Cahan
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Of Energy ◽  
Hermann Von Helmholtz ◽  
James Clerk Maxwell ◽  
Scientific Elite ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
William Thomson ◽  
The Law ◽  
James Thomson ◽  
John Tyndall ◽  
Michael Faraday

This article discusses the close relationship that developed during the 1850s and 1860s between Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–94), one of the leading German scientists during the second half of the nineteenth century, and the British scientific elite generally. It focuses especially on the importance of the law of conservation of energy to both sides of that relationship as the law emerged and became popularized. In presenting this Anglo-German relationship, the article relates Helmholtz's friendships or acquaintanceships with numerous members of the British elite, including William Thomson, John Tyndall, Henry Enfield Roscoe, Michael Faraday, Edward Sabine, Henry Bence Jones, George Gabriel Stokes, James Clerk Maxwell, Peter Guthrie Tait, George Biddell Airy and James Thomson. It suggests that the building of these social relationships helped create a sense of trust between Helmholtz and the British elite that, in turn, eased the revision of the understanding of the law of conservation of force into that of energy and consolidated its acceptance, and that laid the personal groundwork for Helmholtz's future promotion of Maxwell's electromagnetic theory in Germany and for Anglo-German agreements in electrical metrology.

Essay reviews: Maxwell's early career

1991 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 266-270
Keyword(s):  
Modern Science ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Mathematical Representation ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
James Clerk Maxwell ◽  
William Thomson ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Lord Kelvin ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Physical Quantities

P.M. Harman, The scientific letters and papers of James Clerk Maxwell. Volume 1. 1846-1862 . Cambridge University Press, 1990. Pp. xxvii + 748, £125.00. ISBN 0-521-25625-9 James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) was arguably the most important British physicist in the latter half of the last century; a period in which there was some stiff competition from, for example, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) and G.G. Stokes. With Darwin and Faraday he is among the men of science of the 19th century most widely admired by modern scientists. The reasons for this are not hard to find. His work had a lasting impact on physics and he pursued the subject both experimentally and mathematically in ways very similar to the methods of modern science: especially in the mathematical representation of physical quantities. Maxwell has been the subject of much scholarly study in recent years, but no scholarly biography of him has appeared or, so far as I am aware, is in progress. Furthermore, his immediate followers, the Maxwellians, have also been studied extensively. The lack of biography and concentration on followers might be taken to be a little curious except for the fact that a surprisingly small quantity of manuscript material has survived, for someone of his eminence. One of the reasons for this is obvious. His house, Glenlair, was destroyed by fire and it seems likely that much of his archive was consumed in the flames. However, the manuscript writings of any individual fall into two groups, those that are kept by the writer and those that are sent as letters to friends and colleagues. Here the fate of Maxwell’s manuscripts becomes more problematic. Of course those letters he wrote to his father and wife would most likely have been destroyed in the fire. But many of his letters to, for example, Stokes and Thomson, which should be in their archives, have simply disappeared, leaving no trace. Furthermore, much of his incoming correspondence has not survived, presumably because it too was destroyed in the fire.

It Keeps Me Seeking

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Briggs ◽  
Hans Halvorson ◽  
Andrew Steane
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Good Argument ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Argument From Design ◽  
Relationship Of

Two scientists and a philosopher aim to show how science both enriches and is enriched by Christian faith. The text is written around four themes: 1. God is a being to be known, not a hypothesis to be tested; 2. We set a high bar on what constitutes good argument; 3. Uncertainty is OK; 4. We are allowed to open up the window that the natural world offers us. This is not a work of apologetics. Rather, the text takes an overview of various themes and gives reactions and responses, intended to place science correctly as a valued component of the life of faith. The difference between philosophical analysis and theological reflection is expounded. Questions of human identity are addressed from philosophy, computer science, quantum physics, evolutionary biology and theological reflection. Contemporary physics reveals the subtle and open nature of physical existence, and offers lessons in how to learn and how to live with incomplete knowledge. The nature and role of miracles is considered. The ‘argument from design’ is critiqued, especially arguments from fine-tuning. Logical derivation from impersonal facts is not an appropriate route to a relationship of mutual trust. Mainstream evolutionary biology is assessed to be a valuable component of our understanding, but no exploratory process can itself fully account for the nature of what is discovered. To engage deeply in science is to seek truth and to seek a better future; it is also an activity of appreciation, as one may appreciate a work of art.

Charles Darwin's Manuscript of Pangenesis

1963 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Olby
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Theory Of Evolution ◽  
William Thomson ◽  
Lord Kelvin ◽  
Short Time

Darwin only published one account of his provisional hypothesis of pangenesis, and that is to be found in chapter xxvii of his book The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, the first edition of which is dated 1868. The absence of any earlier account in Darwin's works has led some to assume that he had recourse to this hypothesis only a short time before the published date of the book containing it, and on the basis of this assumption they have asserted that he produced it as a part of his defence of the theory of evolution against the criticisms made of it by the physicists Sir William Thomson, afterwards Lord Kelvin, and Fleeming Jenkin. But to make such an assertion is to ignore the fact that Darwin had already sent his manuscript of pangenesis to Huxley in the year 1865, two years before Fleeming Jenkin's article appeared and three years before Lord Kelvin openly attacked the evolutionary theory. The discovery of this manuscript of pangenesis has, therefore, some importance, for it should reveal Darwin's conception of pangenesis in 1865.

The Gibbs-Thomson Equation

2020 ◽  
pp. 109-140
Author(s):  
Brian Cantor
Keyword(s):  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Bulk Material ◽  
Equilibrium Shape ◽  
Surface Adsorption ◽  
Internal Interface ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World ◽  
William Thomson ◽  
Lord Kelvin

The external surface of a material has an atomic or molecular structure that is different from the bulk material. So does any internal interface within a material. Because of this, the energy of a material or any grain or particle within it increases with the curvature of its bounding surface, as described by the Gibbs-Thomson equation. This chapter explains how surfaces control the nucleation of new phases during reactions such as solidification and precipitation, the coarsening and growth of particles during heat treatment, the equilibrium shape of crystals, and the surface adsorption and segregation of solutes and impurities. The Gibbs-Thomson was predated by a number of related equations; it is not clear whether it is named after J. J. Thomson or William Thomson (Lord Kelvin); and it was not put into its current usual form until after Gibbs’, Thomson’s and Kelvin’s time. J. J. Thomson was the third Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cambridge University. He discovered the electron, which had a profound impact on the world, notably via Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb, and subsequent building of the world’s first electricity distribution network. William Thomson was Professor of Natural Philosophy at Glasgow University. He made major scientific developments, notably in thermodynamics, and he helped build the first trans-Atlantic undersea telegraph. Because of his scientific pre-eminence, the absolute unit of temperature, the degree Kelvin, is named after him.

The patents of William Thomson (Lord Kelvin)

2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Trainer
Keyword(s):  
William Thomson ◽  
Lord Kelvin
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