Space from Zeno to Einstein

by Nick Huggett

Learning through original texts can be a powerful heuristic tool. This book collects a dozen classic readings that are generally accepted as the most significant contributions to the philosophy of space. The readings have been selected both on the basis of their relevance to recent debates on the nature of space and on the extent to which they carry premonitions of contemporary physics. In his detailed commentaries, Nick Huggett weaves together the readings and links them to our modern understanding of the subject. Together the readings indicate the general historical development of the concept of space, and in his commentaries Huggett explains their logical relations. He also uses our contemporary understanding of space to help clarify the key ideas of the texts. One goal is to prepare the reader (both scientist and nonscientist) to learn and understand relativity theory, the basis of our current understanding of space. The readings are by Zeno, Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, Descartes, Newton, Leibniz, Clarke, Berkeley, Kant, Mach, Poincaré, and Einstein.

Genres: Philosophy, Science, Nonfiction, Physics, Space

Unknown Binding

First published April 1, 1999

Reviews

[zulimaditas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would be a 5 star if Nick Hugget was not friends with my Teacher sean but denied a complete pdf;-;

[Jeff Vandegrift]

Prof Steven Gimbel (Great Courses) recommends two Philosophy of Physics books; one for everybody and another selected between two based on mathematics of cosmology comfort level. For NON-Math heavies, this is one of the books. If you are a math heavy then he recommends Foundations of Space-Time Theories: Relativistic Physics and Philosophy of Science by Michael Friedman instead of this book.

His other "must read" is for everyone, independent of math skills: Quantum Mechanics and Experience by David Z. Albert.

[MM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to three major questions: 1) what is space; 2) how can we know the geometry of space; 3) what role does it have in physics (mechanics)? Key texts until Einstein collated and explained very well. Highly recommended. I just wish he'd continued to explain special relativity and general relativity as well!

[Dawson Collier · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good place to start in the investigation of Metaphysics.

[Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an introductory book on the philosophy of space, this book does an outstanding job! I learned so much from it and truly enjoyed the journey through the history of ideas regarding space and time. The book consists of readings from original authors, from Plato to Newton to Einstein, followed by a detailed commentary of that reading (with some mathematical rigour, where needed). The commentaries are a goldmine. They not only explain in modern language the old philosopher's point of view (what questions and problems he had in mind), but they also challenge that POV and end with a series of challenges for the reader in the form of problems (like in a textbook). Some of the things I learned, for instance, are that Zeno's paradoxes appear not to be definitively solved by modern calculus (I thought they were), and that metric properties, such as length or distance, need to be added to the properties of points since the latter alone cannot explain the emergence of the former. In addition, I learned that the controversy over the absolute vs. relational nature of space is still ongoing despite Einstein's theory of relativity. (The author points out, several times, that 'relational' is not synonymous with 'relative', that is, in Einstein's sense.) The only minor shortcoming of the book is in its treatment of Relativity at the end--it is too short! Then again, the author did warn the reader before coming to that that a fair treatment of Relativity was outside the scope of the book, which is understandable since the theory is so packed with new information, it would have doubled, perhaps, the size of the book. All in all, however, this is a truly worthwhile work, and I recommend it to anybody who is interested in the intersection between philosophy, geometry (mathematics) and physics.