Elements of Early Modern Physics

by J.L. Heilbron

An overview of the theoretical and experimental research which led up to the great leaps in Physics during the 20th Century

Genres: History Of Science

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Mark Bowles · Rating 4 out of 5]

"J.L. Heilbron argues that the single largest contributor to physics in the 17th century was the Catholic Church."

According to J.L. Heilbron in his Elements of Early Modern Physics, there is no synthetic history of early modern science that would include the institutions, ideas, contexts, and con¬tents which influenced this period. Heilbron attempted a partial synthesis of these elements with the first two chapters of his book, which were taken from his larger work Electricity in the 17th and 18th Centuries: A Study of Early Modern Physics. The intent of this book, as a whole, was to diachronistically examine the general principles of physics and its institutional framework in the 17th and 18th centuries and to give an overview of the history of electricity.
The book was divided into three chapters. The first chapter was a discussion of physics from its changing scope and meaning to quantitative instrumentation and mathematical application. The second chapter described the institutional background by discuss¬ing the benefits and restrictions of the universities and also provided demographical information on the physicists such as salaries, goals, and number of practitioners. The final chapter divided the history of electronics into four periods, from the 17th century to 1790, and characterized each by discussing its content, method, and values.
A question arose in my mind as to what were the "elements" of the physics discussed in this book. I could not find Heilbron stating them explicitly; so, I will give my own interpretation. The first element was the institutions. The new interpretation in this book was that the universities contributed between 1/3 and 1/2 of all the work done in electricity. This progressiveness was contrasted by the previous representation of universities in this course, exemplified by their holding on to the Aristotelian philosophy and control by the church. In the article I read by Kibre and Siraisi (which was concerned with the Middle Ages unlike this book), the greatest contribution the universities could make was to establish a standardized curriculum. I think that this is a good example of how far the universities had come.
A second element would be the method of this early modern science. The beginning of experimental physics, in my opinion, should have been called demonstrative physics. I do not think that the experiments of this time were in the true mold of the modern scientific method. With electricity, a new, fascinating phenomenon was found to be moderately controllable by man and was mostly used for entertainment. Eventually, Cavendish, Volta, and Coulomb helped to quantify the study of electricity and aid in bringing the method of experimental physics closer to modern standards.
A third element would be the physicists themselves. A great deal of demographic information was given about their means of support such as those in religious orders, paid academicians, professors, or public lecturers. The works of 210 electricians are examined from 1600 to 1790. This is an important figure because it shows the growth of science in the early modern socie¬ty. This is compared with the 60 nature inquirers that we studied in Greek Science from 585 B.C. to 180 A.D. (60 is the number of scientists listed in Lloyd's chronological table of names). The rise of the scientific society and the publication of research helped to account for this growth.
The final element of early modern physics was electricity. At this point, in the book, I questioned two things. Was elec¬tricity such an important element of physics that it overshadowed all other research, or, should it have been included in the title of the book, as in my suggestion, Electrical Elements of Early Modern Physics? We know that Galileo developed his laws of motion during this time. This was an advance in physics and certainly deserves to be considered a critical element in its development. With this as evidence, I would say that I feel that the title of the book should be changed to incorporate its emphasis on elec¬tricity.