-
28The 'Logic' of 'Quantum Logic'PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1974. 1974.
-
16In three volumes, a distinguished group of scholars from a variety of disciplines in the natural and social sciences, the humanities and the arts contribute essays in honor of Robert S. Cohen, on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The range of the essays, as well as their originality, and their critical and historical depth, pay tribute to the extraordinary scope of Professor Cohen's intellectual interests, as a scientist-philosopher and a humanist, and also to his engagement in the world of soc…Read more
-
Review Articles-The Dawning of Gauge TheoryStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 30 (3): 453. 1999.
-
Einstein and quantum mechanicsIn A. Ashtekar & J. Stachel (eds.), Conceptual Problems of Quantum Gravity, Birkhauser. 1991.
-
139The relations between things' versus 'the things between relations': The deeper meaning of the hole argumentIn David B. Malament (ed.), Reading Natural Philosophy: Essays in the History and Philosophy of Science and Mathematics, Open Court. pp. 231--66. 2002.
-
84In the paper I wish to begin to explore the consequences for metaphysics of thinking that a good physical theory should be background-independent. More generally I want to ask whether the conception of time not as a background but as an active component of the physical universe has any significant consequences for metaphysics. I think that a natural conception of space and time is to regard them as a (possibly infinite) container or stage for the events that make up the history of the universe. …Read more
-
52Poincaré and the Origins of Special RelativityHopos: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science 6 (2): 242-256. 2016.After introductory surveys of Poincaré’s role in the Dreyfus case and of his “Fourth Geometry,” I turn to the main question. The problem confronting both Poincaré and Einstein was how to reconcile the phenomena of electrodynamics, notably the optical principle of relativity, with the principles of Newtonian mechanics. I show that, on such questions as the existence and role of the ether and the relation between kinematics and dynamics, Poincaré and Einstein held diametrically opposed views. Poin…Read more
-
132Einstein's search for general covariance, 1912--1915In D. Howard & John Stachel (eds.), Einstein and the History of General Relativity, Birkhäuser. pp. 1--63. 1989.
-
1Do Quanta Need a New Logic?In Robert G. Colodny (ed.), From Quarks to Quasars: Philosophical Problems of Modern Physics, University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 229--347. 1986.
-
6The meaning of general covarianceIn John Earman, A. Janis & G. Massey (eds.), Philosophical Problems of the Internal and External Worlds: Essays on the Philosophy of Adolph Grünbaum, University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 129--60. 1993.
-
Structure, Individuality, and Quantum GravityIn Dean Rickles, Steven French & Juha T. Saatsi (eds.), The Structural Foundations of Quantum Gravity, Clarendon Press. 2005.
-
57Einstein and the quantum: fifty years of struggleIn Robert G. Colodny (ed.), From Quarks to Quasars: Philosophical Problems of Modern Physics, University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 349--81. 1986.
-
78The rigidly rotating disk as theIn D. Howard & John Stachel (eds.), Einstein and the History of General Relativity, Birkhäuser. pp. 1--48. 1989.
-
38The dynamical equations of black-body radiationFoundations of Physics 14 (12): 1163-1168. 1984.The dynamical equations for black-body radiation are derived from the vanishing of the stress-energy tensor and shown to imply a theorem which generalizes that of Tolman and Ehrenfest[Phys. Rev. 36,1791 (1930)]. A method for finding the general solution of these equations is given
-
119Conceptual Problems of Quantum Gravity (edited book)Birkhauser. 1991.Introduction: The Winding Road to Quantum Gravity Abhay Ashtekar Traveler, there are no paths; Paths are made by walking. ...
-
43Quantum gravity: Meaning and measurementStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 46 (2): 209-216. 2014.A discussion of the meaning of a physical concept cannot be separated from discussion of the conditions for its ideal measurement. We assert that quantization is no more than the invocation of the quantum of action in the explanation of some process or phenomenon, and does not imply an assertion of the fundamental nature of such a process. This leads to an ecumenical approach to the problem of quantization of the gravitational field. There can be many valid approaches, each of which should be ju…Read more
-
Feynman Paths and Quantum Entanglement: Is There Any More to the Mystery?In Robert S. Cohen, Michael Horne & John Stachel (eds.), Potentiality, Entanglement and Passion-at-a-Distance, Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 245--256. 1997.
-
13Do Quanta NeedIn Robert G. Colodny (ed.), From Quarks to Quasars: Philosophical Problems of Modern Physics, University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 229. 1986.
-
38The Other Einstein: Einstein Contra Field TheoryScience in Context 6 (1): 275-290. 1993.The ArgumentBesides the well-known advocate of unified field theories, there was “another Einstein,” who was skeptical of the continuum as a foundational element in physics. This paper presents evidence for the existence of this “other Einstein,” and of the debate between the two Einsteins that lasted most of Einstein's life.
-
123Did Malament prove the non-conventionality of simultaneity in the special theory of relativity?Philosophy of Science 66 (2): 208-220. 1999.David Malament's (1977) well-known result, which is often taken to show the uniqueness of the Poincare-Einstein convention for defining simultaneity, involves an unwarranted physical assumption: that any simultaneity relation must remain invariant under temporal reflections. Once that assumption is removed, his other criteria for defining simultaneity are also satisfied by membership in the same backward (forward) null cone of the family of such cones with vertices on an inertial path. What is t…Read more
-
Boston UniversityRegular Faculty
Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Social and Political Philosophy |
Logic and Philosophy of Logic |
Philosophy of Physical Science |