Notes on Papers

You are to write a critical essay of about 2500-4000 words (10-15 printed pages) on some aspect of the interpretation of physical theories. The topic should reflect your interests and make use of your background. You should develop your topic into a coherent presentation of ideas for which you argue clearly and convincingly. We do not expect you to do ground breaking work on the foundations of science, but you must not merely summarize or restate some other author's views. You must, of course, properly reference all information you obtain from outside sources, including the textbooks.

Possible approaches to the paper include:
Write a critical essay on some recent or well known work concerning the meaning of physics.
One can often come up with intelligent criticisms and supporting arguments for new works. There are often no standard texts providing such arguments. Thus, these critical essays offer a good opportunity to do original but not groundbreaking work.

Numerous attempts have been made to popularize some of the philosophical implications of quantum physics, including the Tao of Physics, The Dancing Wu-Li Masters, and, to some extent, Herbert's Quantum Reality. Examine whether the actual problems of the theory are well represented in these books and whether the broader implications proposed are valid.

Many recent books have proposed major revisions of the standard view of the relation of physics and other sciences to reality. (Some of the better known authors include Rorty, Derrida, Haraway, LaTour...). Examine whether these give a reasonable interpretation of the history and practice of physics.
Explain the inner logic of some difficult scientific transition.

The rejection of classical space and time rested on a series of experiments which ruled out various alternatives to Einstein's approach. Explain what the alternate views were and how they were eliminated.

Examine the history of some major scientific transition.

Kuhn proposed a general outline for major scientific "paradigm changes" in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Examine how well the theory describes several of the major upheavals covered in this course.

How did the laws of thermodynamics develop? What were the roles of engineering, physics, economics, etc?

How did ideas about electricity develop in the early 19th century? What role did the prior Newtonian framework play?

Examine the interplay between philosophy and physics at some important juncture.

Compare and contrast the views of Descartes, Newton, and Leibniz on the nature of space. How did their views tie in with other aspects of their philosophy and physics?

What role did "pragmatism", "logical positivism", "existentialism", etc. play in setting the stage for the Copenhagen interpretation of QM?

In what does a consistent view of consciousness consist?.

The existence of observations which violate Bell's inequality requires some deep revision of either local causality, induction, realism, or logic. Trace how (or if) locality is violated in any of the accounts of the experimental results.

Einstein and Infeld claim that it is a matter of pure convention whether one adopts the Copernican or Tychonean system. Examine the extent to which that claim is true. (best for the mathematically inclined).

One of the most universal laws of physics is that entropy always increases. Yet the definition of entropy is disturbingly dependent on the knowledge of the system, not just the intrinsic properties of the system. Examine Bayesian or other approaches to making a consistent account of entropy.

What is the evidence for the proposition that space is non-Euclidean. What are the alternative hypotheses?

Some Previous Paper Topics:
Higher dimensional theories (need to focus on philosophical issues)
Many worlds interpretation of QM
Black holes (need to focus on philosophical issues)
Mach, positivism, and Einstein
The nature of space (Descartes, Newton, Leibniz)
Relationism, absolutism, and spacetime
William Gilbert (a gilbert is 0.796 amperes)
The discovery of the electron and the origins of QM (don't focus too much on history)
Conceptual conflict in the progress of physics (needs to be narrowed)
Time (must be made more specific)
Tachyons (needs emphasis on questions, e.g. how to test the hypothesis)
The origins of QM (should find some issue to probe)
Inflation (needs emphasis on questions, e.g. how to test the hypothesis)
Ontology and QM