Conceptual Revolutions

Conceptual Revolutions
Author: Paul Thagard
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2018-06-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0691186677

In this path-breaking work, Paul Thagard draws on the history and philosophy of science, cognitive psychology, and the field of artificial intelligence to develop a theory of conceptual change capable of accounting for all major scientific revolutions. The history of science contains dramatic episodes of revolutionary change in which whole systems of concepts have been replaced by new systems. Thagard provides a new and comprehensive perspective on the transformation of scientific conceptual systems. Thagard examines the Copernican and the Darwinian revolutions and the emergence of Newton's mechanics, Lavoisier's oxygen theory, Einstein's theory of relativity, quantum theory, and the geological theory of plate tectonics. He discusses the psychological mechanisms by which new concepts and links between them are formed, and advances a computational theory of explanatory coherence to show how new theories can be judged to be superior to previous ones.

Conceptual Revolutions

Conceptual Revolutions
Author: Paul Thagard
Publisher: Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 285
Release: 1992
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780691087450

In this path-breaking work, Paul Thagard draws on history and philosophy of science, cognitive psychology, and the field of artificial intelligence to develop a theory of conceptual change capable of accounting for all major scientific revolutions. The history of science contains dramatic episodes of revolutionary change in which whole systems of concepts have been replaced by new systems. For example, Copernicus's theory of the solar system supplanted Ptolemy's, and Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection replaced earlier creationist views. Thagard provides a new and comprehensive perspective on the transformation of scientific conceptual systems. In addition to examining the Copernican and the Darwinian revolutions, Thagard turns his attention to the emergence of Newton's mechanics, Lavoisier's oxygen theory, Einstein's theory of relativity, quantum theory, and the geological theory of plate tectonics. He discusses the psychological mechanisms by which new concepts and links between them are formed, and advances a computational theory of explanatory coherence to show how new theories can be judged to be superior to previous ones. To assess whether the field of psychology has undergone revolutions similar to those in physics, chemistry, biology, and geology, he describes the nature and growth of behaviorism and cognitivism. Finally, he compares the transformations in scientific revolutions with the kinds of conceptual change that developmental psychologists have observed in children. Conceptual Revolutions is essential reading for historians and philosophers of science, and has important implications as well for research in cognitive science. It is clearly written and shouldbe accessible to anyone interested in problems of scientific change.

Conceptual Revolutions in Twentieth-Century Art

Conceptual Revolutions in Twentieth-Century Art
Author: David W. Galenson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 460
Release: 2009-09-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1139479393

From Picasso's Cubism and Duchamp's readymades to Warhol's silkscreens and Smithson's earthworks, the art of the twentieth century broke completely with earlier artistic traditions. A basic change in the market for advanced art produced a heightened demand for innovation, and young conceptual innovators – from Picasso and Duchamp to Rauschenberg and Warhol to Cindy Sherman and Damien Hirst – responded not only by creating dozens of new forms of art, but also by behaving in ways that would have been incomprehensible to their predecessors. Conceptual Revolutions in Twentieth-Century Art presents the first systematic analysis of the reasons for this discontinuity. David W. Galenson, whose earlier research has changed our understanding of creativity, combines social scientific methods with qualitative analysis to produce a fundamentally new interpretation of modern art that will give readers a far deeper appreciation of the art of the past century, and of today, than is available elsewhere.

Revolutions, Nations, Empires

Revolutions, Nations, Empires
Author: Alexander J. Motyl
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 250
Release: 1999
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780231114318

In this concise, provocative, and trenchant book, Alexander J. Motyl argues that social scientists must pay more rigorous attention to the formulation of concepts, as they provide the basis for clear thinking, good research, and intelligent formulation of theories. Focusing his "conceptual explorations" on three phenomena--revolutions, nations and nationalism, and empires--Motyl challenges the sloppy thinking that so often surrounds these three interrelated concepts, and moves our understanding of them toward greater precision.

Revolutions and Continuity in Greek Mathematics

Revolutions and Continuity in Greek Mathematics
Author: Michalis Sialaros
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 446
Release: 2018-04-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 3110565277

This volume brings together a number of leading scholars working in the field of ancient Greek mathematics to present their latest research. In their respective area of specialization, all contributors offer stimulating approaches to questions of historical and historiographical ‘revolutions’ and ‘continuity’. Taken together, they provide a powerful lens for evaluating the applicability of Thomas Kuhn’s ideas on ‘scientific revolutions’ to the discipline of ancient Greek mathematics. Besides the latest historiographical studies on ‘geometrical algebra’ and ‘premodern algebra’, the reader will find here some papers which offer new insights into the controversial relationship between Greek and pre-Hellenic mathematical practices. Some other contributions place emphasis on the other edge of the historical spectrum, by exploring historical lines of ‘continuity’ between ancient Greek, Byzantine and post-Hellenic mathematics. The terminology employed by Greek mathematicians, along with various non-textual and material elements, is another topic which some of the essays in the volume explore. Finally, the last three articles focus on a traditionally rich source on ancient Greek mathematics; namely the works of Plato and Aristotle.

The Cognitive Structure of Scientific Revolutions

The Cognitive Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Author: Hanne Andersen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2006-04-24
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1139452630

Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions became the most widely read book about science in the twentieth century. His terms 'paradigm' and 'scientific revolution' entered everyday speech, but they remain controversial. In the second half of the twentieth century, the new field of cognitive science combined empirical psychology, computer science, and neuroscience. In this book, the theories of concepts developed by cognitive scientists are used to evaluate and extend Kuhn's most influential ideas. Based on case studies of the Copernican revolution, the discovery of nuclear fission, and an elaboration of Kuhn's famous 'ducks and geese' example of concept learning, this volume, first published in 2006, offers accounts of the nature of normal and revolutionary science, the function of anomalies, and the nature of incommensurability.

Digital Sketching

Digital Sketching
Author: John Bacus
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2020-12-30
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1119640768

Learn to apply new digital design technologies at your own firm with this practical and insightful resource Digital Sketching: Computer-Aided Conceptual Design delivers a comprehensive and insightful examination of how architects and other design professionals can best use digital design technology to become better designers. Celebrated professional, professor, and author John Bacus provides readers with practical and timely information on emerging digital design technologies and their effect on professional practice. By focusing on the big picture, this rigorous survey of conceptual design technology offers professionals realistic strategies for reclaiming time for design in the ever increasing speed of project delivery. This book helps architects (and others like them) learn to use digital sketching techniques to be better designers, right from the project’s very first sketch. As part of the groundbreaking Practical Revolutions series of books, Digital Sketching furthers the conversation of the practical deployment of emerging technologies in the building industries. This book provides readers with the information they need to evaluate digital design technology and decide whether or not to adopt and integrate it into their own processes. Readers will receive: An accelerated and accessible introduction to a highly technical topic Practical and applicable guidance on how to adapt a firm’s business to adopt new technology without losing the benefit of existing intuition, skill, and experience. Real world implementations of specific techniques in the form of illuminating case studies that include results and lessons learned Perfect for professional architectural designers, Digital Sketching also belongs on the bookshelves of interior designers, landscape architects, urban planners, contractors, and specialty fabricators of every kind. A disciplined sketching practice, especially through the digital methods discussed in this book, is a transformational benefit to anyone who designs and builds for a living.

The Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Mechanics

The Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Mechanics
Author: Leonard Eisenbud
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2007
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0821841793

This book provides a clear and logical path to understanding what quantum mechanics is about. It will be accessible to undergraduates with minimal mathematical preparation: all that is required is an open mind, a little algebra, and a first course in undergraduate physics. Quantum mechanics is arguably the most successful physical theory. It makes predictions of incredible accuracy. It provides the structure underlying all of our electronic technology, and much of our mastery over materials. But compared with Newtonian mechanics, or even relativity, its teachings seem obscure--they have no counterpart in everyday experience, and they sometimes contradict our simplest notions of how the world works. A full understanding of the theory requires prior mastery of very advanced mathematics. This book aims at a different goal: to teach the reader, step by step, how the theory came to be and what, fundamentally, it is about. Most students learn physics by learning techniques and formulas. This is especially true in a field like quantum mechanics, whose content often contradicts our common sense, and where it's tempting to retreat into mathematical formalism. This book goes behind the formalism to explain in direct language the conceptual content and foundations of quantum mechanics: the experiments that forced physicists to construct such a strange theory, and the essential elements of its strangeness.