Hans Christian Ørsted and the Romantic Legacy in Science

Robert M. Brain

ISBN 10: 1402029799 / ISBN 13: 9781402029790

Published by Springer Netherlands, Springer Netherlands Okt 2007, 2007

About this Item

Neuware -This volume owes its origin to the perception of a puzzling paradox. Hans Christian Ørsted, the great Danish scientist and philosopher, was one of the founders of modern physics through his experimental discovery in 1820 of the interaction of electricity and magnetism¿a key step and model for the further unification of the forces of nature. Followers such as Maxwell and Einstein were, and today searchers worldwide are, enchanted by the hope for a completion of that grand program. In addition to Ørsted¿s discovery of electromagnetism, his work in science included other fields, chiefly high-pressure physics and acoustics. Moreover, he belonged to that fascinating group of seekers who were deeply engaged in the Romantic tradition of the Nature Philosophers, influenced by Immanuel Kant and by religious, literary, and aesthetic currents. The scientific and philosophical speculations by Ørsted and his circle also quickly stimulated the imagination of other philosophers and scientists. Among the latter were prominently André-Marie Ampère and Michael Faraday, whose work launched the transformation of civilization often called the Second Ind- trial Revolution, based on the invention of motors, generators, and the pervasi- ness of electricity in modern life.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 464 pp. Englisch.

Seller Inventory # 9781402029790

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Hans Christian Ørsted and the Romantic Legacy in Science
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands, Springer Netherlands Okt 2007
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1402029799
• ISBN 13: 9781402029790
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 241W x 160H x 31D millimeters 241 millimeters width by 160 millimeters height by 31 millimeters depth
• Weight: 857 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This volume owes its origin to the perception of a puzzling paradox. Hans Christian Ørsted, the great Danish scientist and philosopher, was one of the founders of modern physics through his experimental discovery in 1820 of the interaction of electricity and magnetism―a key step and model for the further unification of the forces of nature. Followers such as Maxwell and Einstein were, and today searchers worldwide are, enchanted by the hope for a completion of that grand program. In addition to Ørsted’s discovery of electromagnetism, his work in science included other fields, chiefly high-pressure physics and acoustics. Moreover, he belonged to that fascinating group of seekers who were deeply engaged in the Romantic tradition of the Nature Philosophers, influenced by Immanuel Kant and by religious, literary, and aesthetic currents. The scientific and philosophical speculations by Ørsted and his circle also quickly stimulated the imagination of other philosophers and scientists. Among the latter were prominently André-Marie Ampère and Michael Faraday, whose work launched the transformation of civilization often called the Second Ind- trial Revolution, based on the invention of motors, generators, and the pervasi- ness of electricity in modern life.

Synopsis

The relations between science and philosophy in the early nineteenth century remain one of the most misunderstood topics in modern European intellectual history. By taking the brilliant career of Danish physicist-philosopher Hans Christian Orsted as their organizing theme, leading international philosophers and historians of science reveal illuminating new perspectives on the intellectual map of Europe in the age of revolution and romanticism. They show how Orsted, an intrepid traveller and cosmopolitan from the periphery of enlightened Europe, mediated between the great scientists of Germany, France, and Britain and profoundly shaped post-kantian philosophy and the emerging new energy physics of the nineteenth-century.