Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894), of Germany, was one of the greatest scientists of the nineteenth century, a man of astonishing versatility whose research in many areas - medicine, anatomy, physiology, psychology, mathematics, physics, the philosophy of science - has had enormous influence on the development of scientific thought in this century. In this new edition Russell Kahl, a professor of philosophy at San Francisco State College, brings together in one volume for the first time in English, twenty of Helmholtz's most important and most representative shorter essays. Mr. Kahl has carefully revised existing translations, correcting and clarifying them for the modern reader, and has substantially reworked or retranslated more than half these papers. He has added a long biographical and critical introduction that fully discusses Helmholtz's contributions and their relevance to modern science; has copiously annotated the essays themselves; and has appended an invaluable comprehensive bilingual bibliography of Helmholtz's works.
Included are: The Conservation of Force (1847); The Scientific Researches of Goethe (1853); The Physiological Causes of Harmony in Music (1857); The Application of the Law of the Conservation of Force to Organic Nature (1861); The Relation of the Natural Sciences to Science in General (1862); Recent Progress in the Theory of Vision (1867); The Aim and Progress of Physical Science (1869); The Origin and Meaning of Geometric Axioms: I (1870); The Origin of the Planetary System (1871); The Relation of Optics to Painting (1871); The Endeavor to Popularize Science (1874); Thought in Medicine (1877); The Origin and Meaning of Geometric Axioms: II (1878); The Facts of Perception (1878); The Modern Development of Faraday's Conception of Electricity (1881); An Epistemological Analysis of Counting and Measurement (1887); An Autobiographical Sketch (1891); Goethe's Anticipation of Subsequent Scientific Ideas (1892); The Origin and Correct Interpretation of Our Sense Impressions (1894); Introduction to the Lectures on Theoretical Physics: Introduction & Part I (1894).
Table of Contents
The conservation of force: a physical memoir.--The scientific researches of Goethe.--The physiological causes of harmony in music.--The application of the law of the conservation of force to organic nature.--The relation of the natural sciences to science in general.--Recent progress in the theory of vision.--The aim and progress of physical science.--The origin and meaning of geometric axioms, I.--The origin of the planetary system.--The relation of optics to painting.--The endeavor to popularize science.--Thought in medicine.--The origin and meaning of geometric axioms, II.--The facts of perception.--The modern development of Faraday's conception of electricity.--An epistemological analysis of counting and measurement.--An autobiographical sketch.--Goethe's anticipation of subsequent scientific ideas.--The origin and correct interpretation of our sense impressions.--Introduction to the lectures on theoretical physics (introduction and part II).--Bibliography (p. 530-542)