Notes on Papers

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.

*February 2014:Check out this document with reference to some possible term paper topics from "The Edge"!*

• • Stephen Wolfram has recently written a huge book on A New Type of Science, focussing on the role of cellular automata. Examine the claims of this book regarding both fundamental physics and ways of understanding complex phenomena, including biology.
  • 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.
  • Recently, there has been a new wave of books relating physics to theological and philosophical questions (Davies, Polkinghorn, ...) Evaluate the solidity of their arguments.
    
     
• There has been a long string of pathological episodes in science. These include Piltdown Man, N-rays, cold fusion (some of you may wish to dispute that characterization), etc. Examine one or more of them. What light do they shed on claims about how normal science attempts to discern truth?
   
• 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.
  • In the early years of the century, there were intense debates about the relation of scientific theory to the external world, if any. Among the prominent people engaged in those debates were Mach, Planck, Einstein, and even Lenin. Clarify what the arguments were about and who, in retrospect, seems to have won.
  • 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?
     
• Explicate some thorny question of interpretation.
  • 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 restricted to 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/ blame jjt for comment)
• 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